Teen pregnancy is on the rise in the United States. “Of the 4.3 million births reported in 2006, around 435,000 of the births were to mothers from 15 to 19 years old, an increase of approximately 21,000 more teens having babies than in 2005” (Hajek).
The cause of the current rise is uncertain, but I feel the reasons for the rise are very clear. Many factors play into this trend such as single parent homes, religious influence in the home, businesses relying on sexual pictures or thoughts to sell products, lack of education to the youth about contraceptives and sexual transmitted diseases, the parents not providing birth control and condoms to teens, and the parent(s) of the teen not being open to discussing sex and the consequences.
Single parent homes in the United States “According to Families and Living Arrangements: 2006, there were 12.9 million one-parent families in 2006 — 10.4 million single-mother families and 2.5 million single-father families”( US Census Bureau). I am a product of a single parent upbringing and all too often my house was full of chaos and kid-parent disconnect. My mother was preoccupied with financial stability and therefore certain parental duties were put on hold. I never received the “ birds and the bees” conversation nor did she keep “tabs” on where I was during the day and or night.
Religion is a double edged sword it can play a vital role in preventing teen pregnancy and it can also add to it. Religion has base rules that promote good morals and ethics. One of these rules is no sex before marriage. Another one of these rules is no contraceptives. These rules can add to teen pregnancy. If the teen comes from a religious family and wants to engage in premarital sex they will be afraid to approach their parent(s). Thus, leaving the teen to have sex and to have it without contraceptives.
Businesses in America thrive on the image of sex to promote and sell products. How many times have you been in the checkout lane at your local supermarket and are visually assaulted with half naked images on magazines? Turn on your television and see a commercial promoting body soap or hair products with the underlined message of sex? Open up the internet and take a quick look around, it is estimated that blank percent of the internet is porn/sex related sites.
I also believe there is a lack of sex education to teens in this country. The education of the human body and how it reproduces will help prevent teen pregnancies. It would show the teens how to properly use contraceptives. It will also show them the negative consequences of their actions, such as sexually transmitted diseases, the stress it will have on their education and future and of course the chance of an unwanted pregnancy.
Parents are not talking to their teens about sex. They do not want to recognize that their teen might be or want to be engaged in sexual activity. They are not taking the appropriate steps to safeguarding their teens from sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy. This is due to the parents religious stance, unwilliness to approve of premarital sex or just plain clueless to the fact that little Johnny or Suzzy is going to have sex regardless and should take precautions.
In the end, if your teenager wants to engage in sexual activity there is little you can do but educate and protect them. If you choose not to address this with your teens you are playing a dangerous game with your kids future.
Web Article:
Heather Hajek
Published: Friday, January 9 2009
http://www.healthnews.com/family-health/pregnancy-childbirth-parenting/teen-pregnancy-rate-is-on-rise-2409.html
Web Article:
US Census Bureau
Page Last Modified: January 15, 2010
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam.html
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment