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Teen Pregnancy Articles, Factors Causing Teenage Pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy is among the most significant and alarming issues today. Teenage pregnancy, also known as teen pregnancy, happens once a girl becomes a mother before an adult, as stated by the law. Teen pregnancies occur depending on several factors.
Many societies and ethnic groups celebrate teen pregnancies since they prove that a girl is fertile and can bear children. However, in most developed countries, such teenage pregnancies are considered a social disgrace.
Regardless of other people’s reactions to a teen getting pregnant, this situation is usually dangerous for both the child and the mother. The teen usually is vulnerable, and she’s only growing into becoming a woman.
The teen’s body is still fragile, and her reproductive system is just beginning to function correctly. At such a point, bearing a child and giving birth can be physically and mentally depressing for her.
Why do teen pregnancies occur?
There are several reasons for teen pregnancies. While it is a common culture in a few societies, most teen pregnancies occur because of the following reasons:
1. Raging hormones
Most youngsters experience sudden and unknown feelings and emotions during their early teenage years. They also experience a natural sense of rebel against set norms. All this, accompanied by a sudden sense of sexuality and freedom, makes many of them give way to their feelings through sexual experiences and expressions.
Indeed, most nations stress sex tutoring in schools, yet, some teens involve themselves in unprotected sex, which ends up causing unwanted pregnancies. This is among the most critical reasons for teen pregnancies today.
2. Peer group pressure
Most teenagers involve themselves in impulsive sexual behavior because of peer pressure. Teenagers growing in mostly promiscuous nations are likely to date much earlier than others in a little more conventional environment. This is because they feel the need to be trendy, modernized and accepted by their friends.
The only way they can achieve this is by having a girlfriend or boyfriend, at least indulging in sexual activities often, or dating. This sort of rash activity could lead to unplanned pregnancies.
3. Contraceptive failure
This is another fundamental reason for teen pregnancies. Even though there are many brands and types of contraceptives and birth control pills available quickly, there is never an assurance for absolute safety. At times, not knowing exactly how to use contraceptives can lead to unplanned pregnancies.
4. Traumatic Effects of Teenage Pregnancy
Confirmation that a teenager has conceived brings on stress. She is pretty young to face emotional challenges and cannot decide what to do regarding the pregnancy. In addition, lots of adverse effects follow teenage pregnancy, the primary reason being social disgrace.
Other traumatic consequences of teenage pregnancy –
- An adolescent is someone between the age of 9 and 19 years. Getting pregnant at such an age can be severe. Mortality rates are much higher for pregnant teens between the ages of 15 to 19 than women aged between 25 and 29, as teen pregnancy statistics reveal. The unborn baby is at an increased risk as well. For girls between the ages of 10 to 14, it’s even worse. Should they get live births, the infant is more likely to face serious challenges health-wise or dies soon.
- Teen pregnancies make it difficult for a girl to pursue her education. Therefore, the drop-out rate is relatively high. Most adolescents would wait until 20 – 21 to have children and thus complete secondary school. In contrast are the girls who have children before they even reach 18 years.
- Even after having a baby, the teen mother finds it difficult to maintain her academic performance. She’s forced to repeat her classes and demonstrate poor performance in standardized exams. In the end, she does not graduate.
- Finding a constant source of income turns out to be difficult since every job position needs specific skills which are lacking due to lack of proper education.
- The only option left after a teen pregnancy is to seek public assistance. Most teenagers are not married, and more than 75% of them seek support after becoming mothers. Some experts feel that poverty-ridden teens welcome pregnancy to get financial support from the child’s father; this ought to be a survival means of escaping poverty.
- As explained in teen pregnancy articles, children born to such parents mostly exhibit retarded psycho-social growth and malnutrition effects. This is since a teen mother does not have parenting skills. She does not understand what her baby needs and doesn’t realize the significance of touching, smiling or verbally communicating with the child. Anger against society is taken out on that child and abuse, primarily physical, is possible.
- When mature, the children of these ‘teenage mothers’ exhibit behaviors which are considered socially intolerable. This is the worst consequence of teenage pregnancy. The child can become a criminal offender and end up in prison – the rate is three times more for such boys than ordinary criminals. A girl child may follow in the mother’s footsteps and become a victim of teen pregnancy too herself.
The solution to teenage pregnancies
Teenagers are just the same as everybody else since they want to be cared for, loved and respected. Preventing such pregnancies doesn’t begin when a child gets to puberty, but that’s when most adults appreciate the onset of the possibilities of teenage pregnancy.
Preventing teen pregnancy starts when a child is still young since that is when parents should establish their relationship with their children.
Child-Parent Relationship Is Important
Parents are children’s role models. Parents should establish behavioral guidelines and standards that will guide and protect the children through adulthood. Once a child values and respects their parents, the child will generally comply with the parent’s desires.
When a child has no respect for the parent, what the parents do has minimal impact. The tighter the relationship, the more likely the parents will talk with their kids about everything and anything.
No parent can ever guarantee that their teens will not have children. Teenagers believe that they are so invincible that nothing can happen to them; it is a process that’s part of their growth.
They don’t assess risks correctly and, therefore, don’t act to prevent the outcomes of impulsive decisions.
The more caring and open the parents are with children, the less frightened the teenagers or children become about approaching the parents for assistance, guidance or advice. The worst thing any parent can ever do is be judgmental of what and who their children may do or be.
When parents talk to children, they exhibit interest in what and who is essential to the children. Taking an interest in someone else demonstrates caring and respect.
However, when parents are too preoccupied or too busy to talk with their kids, how do they expect the kids to go to them whenever a situation becomes confusing, complicated, overwhelming or problematic.
As uncomfortable as it may be for a parent to discuss such topics with their kids, it would be uncomfortable, more than ever, to deal with the consequences of being a grandparent before you both are ready for the baby’s responsibilities.
Although many Christians do not support sex education since they claim that it’s immoral to educate young kids about sex, you can still ask them to go through teenage pregnancy articles. It’s the best place for your children to learn more about these topics.
Bear in mind that abortion is not and can never be a solution to teenage pregnancy. If you can find out the side effects of abortion from teen pregnancy articles, you would certainly think twice before attempting to do that. Abortion can poison the teen mother if parts of the aborted child have been left inside the mother’s womb.
Working together to work out problems and devise approaches or prevention or what won’t result in stress or difficulties allows the teen the confidence to speak about serious subjects with their parents.
Topics on sexuality are severe and exciting topics for youngsters since their bodies are changing and they are not controlling sensations, reactions and emotions.
Start a conversation about human maturation, how to practice birth control, consequences and options of unplanned pregnancies, responsibilities and costs of becoming a mother at an early age, and encourage them to read teen pregnancy articles.
