Teen Pregnancy and Its Effects

Teen Pregnancy and its Effects

According to statistics there are 750,000 teen pregnancies annually.(TP.org'2011)

Teenage pregnancy is a large and growing issue in the United States.(Livestrong'2011)

More and more teenagers feel pressured to have sex which leads to pregnancy. The negative effects of teenage pregnancy are no education, unstable parents, and being a teen parent can be very overwhelming. These effects are detrimental to many teen lives and also society.

First and foremost teen pregnancies have a major effect on education. Teenagers who become pregnant lead to large percentages of high school dropouts. For instance 70% percent of females who dropout of school are due to pregnancy.(aclu-wa.org'2010). Therefore, hey cannot get a job which makes them unstable parents. Consequently to becoming pregnant most teens do not attempt to finish high school due to embarrassment, or no support.(aclu-wa.org'2010). Most teens feel like taking care of a baby and going to school is too much to handle. So not finishing school and not working makes it impossible to be a well prepared parent.

As a consequence, unprepared parents are more likely to be unstable financially. They cannot afford to take care of a baby with no income. So the parent cannot give a child a safe stable environment. Teens may have been kicked out of their house by their parents because they got pregnant. Teens may be forced to move from place to place. Most of the time the load is put on parents because teens cannot take care of their responsibilities as a parent.

Generally being a teen parent is overwhelming. Young parents become very pressured and stressed. They become mentally unstable, depressed and out of it. Some go through emotional changes because they no longer have their spouse. In fact most teen couples who have a baby separate.(TP.org2011). Teen couples separate because the baby changes everything, its not just the two of them anymore. Mothers become overwhelmed when they are left alone to raise a child. Their emotions are torn apart and they become very stressed. The drastic changes a baby brings can also bring overwhelming stress. For example when they cannot hang out with friends or have a social life.

All in all teenage pregnancy is a big and consistently on going issue in United States. As a result teen parents are uneducated, and unstable parents that are greatly overwhelmed by the responsibility of having a baby. What would you do to change the rates of teenage pregnancy in your community? What would you do if your teen got pregnant?