"African-American Teenagers Facing Parenthood".
Starting a family is challenging for almost everyone, but it is extremely challenging and stressful for adolescents. Parenting presents numerous challenges to adolescents since many of them are still emotionally depended on their own parents, and lack enough experience to make sound decisions (Lowenthal, 1997). When a teenage girl becomes pregnant, she will be faced with new and challenging responsibilities. Adolescents who are living in poverty face even more severe challenges. They can be overwhelmed with financial issues, continuing education, or have problems with being a parent. Not only does the teenage mother have problems, but the teenage fathers also undergo changes. The following will present information about the challenges and choices of teenagers who are entering into parenthood, or are already parents.
Challenges of Parenthood:.
Developing into a teenager is difficult, but handling these changes and becoming a parent at the same time is rough. Teenage mothers who are not ready to become parents face challenging times while there are developing. By becoming parents, teenagers disrupt the expected sequence of finishing school first, finding employment, marrying, and then having children (Lowenthal, 1997). A common image of the teen mother is that she may become a single mother because the baby's father has abandoned her. Studies have shown that teen mothers choose not to marry or cohabit with their child's father because of various reasons. The teenage father's economic or employment status, their own ability to survive economically, the quality of the relationship, and normative expectations about marriage is one reason why teen mothers choose not to marry (Rains, 1998).
Families headed by teen parents are more likely to live in poverty (Lowenthal, 1997). Teenagers are poor before they have children. Very few teenage mothers will marry their partners, which will result in a large number of single parent homes headed by teenagers.
