Kids Having Kids
Adolescent pregnancy has long been a societal concern, but in the past decade, this issue has become one of the most frequently cited examples of the perceived societal decay in the United States. About 560,000 teenage girls give birth each year. Eight in ten of these births resulted from unintended pregnancies. (McCuen 16). Sorting out cause and effect would be easy if pregnant teens all lived in the same area with the same disadvantages or if these women chose to become mothers early in life. But such mothers are not randomly dotted across the social landscape. Increased rates of sexual activity, illegitimacy, and welfare receipt raise public concerns. Although the onset of pregnancy may occur in any teenager, some teens are at higher risk for unplanned pregnancy than others. Despite the recent decline in the teen birth rates, teen pregnancy remains a significant problem facing our nation. Social problems, a vast amount of emotional and psychological problems often contribute to teen pregnancy. Promiscuous is defined as careless, casual, or even aimless. Teens are being promiscuous more than ever before. Teenagers are participating in the new world of sexual freedom. Social behavior is
A present trend continues in America; an astonishing 50 percent of all children will spend at least part of their childhood in a single-parent family. Half of these children are being raised by one parent as a result of divorce; the rest had been born to unmarried mothers. (Harris 3). Having and raising a child no longer takes place exclusively within marriage. A single parent puts family stress on teens. Often they have no father figure; the mother has to work full time, leaving the children to become lonely and to feel vulnerable to attention. They sometimes begin to rebel to find their independence and autonomy from a parent and do whatever they have been told not to do. Teenage girls that have an older sister in the family that has had a child in her teens, increase the chances that she will also have a child. Another reason society views teen pregnancy negatively is because of the substantial financial burden that the problem poses on society and the economy. It has created a financial burden of seven billion dollars in lost tax revenues, public assistance, child health care, foster care and the criminal justice system, (Harris 20). and this does not include the money spent annually on prevention methods. Most teen parents have to rely on government aid as relief. These mothers are only able to give their children the bare minimum for survival. Teenagers who come from poor neighborhoods are at a high risk for pregnancy. Unwed teenage mothers symbolize a stubborn and disturbing form of poverty in America. ( Luker172). Teens growing up in impoverished environments, with deteriorating schools and dangerous neighborhoods and few opportunities that provide meaning and status in life seem to be a symptom of childbearing. It is poverty that many argue can be avoided by delaying childbearing. Poor mothers tend to have children who will themselves grow up to be poor. It is poverty that some feel is brought on by our social welfare system by offers of cash assistance to women having nonmarital births.(Harris 1). More than half of all welfare recipients were teenagers when their first child was born. Emotionally, teen mothers do not concern themselves with knowing the high risk that they have put themselves and their baby in. They face greater health risks than older mothers, such as anemia, pregnancy induced hypertension, toxemia, premature delivery, cervical trauma, and even death. Many of these risks are due to inadequate prenatal care and
Some topics in this essay:
Luker172 Teens,
Pregnancy Adolescent,
teen pregnancy,
teenage mother,
baby health,
financial burden,
teenage pregnancies,
health teenage,
baby health teenage,
girls birth,
sexually active,
death rate,
sexual behavior,
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Approximate Word count = 1690
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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