Teenage Pregnancy - the Causes to a Social Problem

Teenage Pregnancy : The Causes to a Social Problem Many factors can be named in exploring the causes of teenage pregnancy ,most of them proven by reliable studies among teenage women and women who underwent teenage pregnancy . In the first part of the paper , a survey by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (2004 ) named parents and friends as highly influential in the teenagers ' decision to engage in sexual activity . This revealed that , contrary to popular belief , 45 of the respondents said that parents gave them the strongest influence . 88 of these respondents said that they could have suspended engaging into sexual activity if they had more opportunity to communicate with their parents . Only 31 of the survey 's respondents claimed that their peers had influence in their decision to engage in sexual activity . Economics was also named a culprit . Christensen and Rosen (1996 ) assert that women from low-income families are more likely to get pregnant as teenagers , in comparison to women from higher-income families who may choose to withhold pregnancy because it will sacrifice their financial independence and the other perks of being single . The media is also still on the list . While the media is currently being saved by many from the sin of bombarding teenagers with too much sexually explicit content , saying that proper parental guidance can ease the effects of media , it may still have a role in the dilemma . The campaign for sexual responsibility alongside shows which has sexual content offer mixed messages that may confuse teens , where while there are campaigns or shows telling teenagers to abstain from sexual intercourse until they are ready or until they get married , or to use contraception , a considerably higher percentage of programs exhibit sexual content (Christensen and Rosen , 1996 . According to Weis (2000 , one in four television programs in the United States emphasize sexual behavior one in eight contains a scene depicting sexual activity . Out of these , sexual responsibility is rarely implied . Moreover , research has proven that sexual implications in the media contribute to the actual engagement of teenagers to sexual intercourse . This despite the 77 respondents of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy who said that the media drive for sexual responsibility is comprehensive . Gender expectation such as the attitudes of male partners towards sex is often an overlooked factor in teenage pregnancy . In many cultures ,sexual intercourse is natural for men while a taboo for women . However ,men take an equal part in the process of sexual intercourse , and should thus equally undergo comprehensive sexual education (Weis , 2000 )In the same way , the age of the partner may also be accountable . Studies show that women below 18 who become pregnant have partners who are older than them by six years or more . This can be related to the fact that women whose partners are older than them by this