Preventing Teenage Pregnancy

          Teenage pregnancy is defined as a pregnancy involving a person aged 13-19 years old. Although the rate of teenage pregnancy is slowly declining, the numbers are still alarmingly high. In the United States, one million teenage girls become pregnant each year. (Teen Pregnancy) Each year, 13% of births in the United States are to teen mothers. Of those, 25% of teen mothers have another baby within two years. Children born to teenage mothers are less likely to receive proper nutrition, health care, cognitive and social stimulation. They are more at an increased risk to be neglected or abused. Boys born to teen mothers are 13% more likely to become incarcerated and girls are 22% more likely to become teen mothers themselves. (Teen Pregnancy)

            The President’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative was created to demonstrate the effectiveness of the innovative, multi-component, community-wide initiatives in reducing rates of teen pregnancy and births in communities with the highest rates. (Responding to Teen Pregnancy, 2011) The goal is to reduce the teen birth rates by 10% in targeted communities and increase the amount of youth abstaining from intercourse. (Teen Pregnancy Prevention 2010-2015) Currently, many teens are uninformed about contraceptives, including the availability, efficiency and choices. Only 69% of United States schools teach sex education. Of those, 86% teach abstinence rather than safe methods. Sex education needs to be taught in all schools where teens attend. Many parents contend that it should be the parent’s responsibility to teach sex education to their children. However, there are many parents who do not teach their children about sex. It is these children that need someone to step in and teach them in order to help prevent teen pregnancy. This can be started as sex education in schools and lead into peer counseling groups. According to Josefina Card, a program called Adolescent compliance in the Use of Oral Contraceptives uses peer counselors to advise patients aged 14-19. (Card, 1999) A field study concluded that these teens were more than likely to use oral contraceptives correctly and continuously. This type of program may be beneficial to many communities dealing with high rates of teen pregnancy.

            Another program that may be beneficial to prevent teen pregnancy is a Teen to Teen mentoring type program. In this program, teens are partnered with current teen mothers to see how life changes. In order to prevent teen pregnancy, teens need to see the ups and downs. I was hoping when MTV created the 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom series that it would show teens about life as parents. Unfortunately, most teens now believe the glamorous, show business side of teen pregnancy.

            Although abstinence is the best way to prevent teen pregnancy, teaching only that principle is not going to work. Teens need to be taught how to protect themselves from diseases and pregnancy. The annual cost of teen pregnancy on the United States is $7 billion dollars. This makes teen pregnancy a national problem, not an individual problem. We, as a country, need to help prevent teen pregnancy.

Works Cited

Card, J. J. (1999). Teen Pregnancy Prevention: Do Any Programs Work? Annual Reviews , 257-285.

Responding to Teen Pregnancy. (2011). Curriculum Review , pp. 10-11.

Teen Pregnancy. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2011, from Health Communities: http://www.healthcommunities.com/teen-pregnancy/children/overview-of-teen-pregnancy.shtml

Teen Pregnancy Prevention 2010-2015. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2011, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/TeenPregnancy/PreventTeenPreg.htm

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