Teen

Pregnancy















Mahogany Mathews-Temple
November 12, 2011
Persuasive Speech
Academy B
ow many teenage friends do you know are pregnant or have children? Did you
know, according to new teenage pregnancy statistics for 2010, teen girls ages fifteen to
nineteen are the most likely to get pregnant as a teen? This means that forty out of every
one-thousand girls get pregnant. Researchers from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen
and Unplanned Pregnancy are voicing concern over the new statistics. Many are concerned
that the teens are less likely to use contraception or some form of birth-control. Sexually
Transmitted Disease (STD) rate among teens is also on the rise, organizations like Planned
Parenthood and the Guttmacher Institute are convinced these increasing trends are
because of the abstinence-only education in schools.
Teenage Pregnancy Statistics (TPS) state that the majority of teens that are at risk
for becoming pregnant fall into different, but very specific groups. For example, teens in
minority races (Black and ispanics account for more than half of all pregnant teens),
teens from single parent households, teens with a mother who got pregnant as a teen, and
teens from lower class areas or economic backgrounds. The reason behind many of these
new T.P.S. result because teens under tough economic conditions of from single parent
households are led to learn about life and sex on their own. Lack of education in all aspects
is becoming the biggest problem and contributes to these rising numbers. A little over half
of teens will have sex before graduating high school.
Teenage pregnancies are costing tax payer throughout the United States around
$10.9 billion dollars each year. Not only having a baby affects the teen parent/s, but it ends
up costing the nation as a whole. The state or federal governments step in and provide the
teen with some financial assistance through welfare, Medicaid, and WIC programs since
teens often cannot pay the costs associated with raising a child or even the prenatal care
and delivery.
Single teen parenting is one of the toughest obstacles any teen may face in their
young lives. It is a road that is tough for any young teen mom and/or dad to have to face
while their biggest worries should be about passing their classes and getting into college.
Once a teen becomes pregnant, and decides to keep the baby, the most important thing
changes - from being a good student to being a good parent.
Since majority of single teen parents are likely unemployed because they are still in
school, financial struggles will be one of the roughest parts of being a single parent. About
70 of high school teens that get pregnant do not graduate from high school. This means
that, it will be even harder for a single teen parent to get a higher paying job to support
him/her. Fortunately there are monetary assistance programs that can help single teen
parents. These resources include government assistance programs like Medicare, Medicaid,
and Women Infant Children (WIC).
Encountering troubles with single teens might feel incredibly alone. Many teens
don`t realize that they can rely on parents, family, and friends to help them through the
emotional times because they think that they will be disowned as a single teen parent.
Many abortions occur because teens are facing an unwanted pregnancy, which is
known as elective abortion. Abortions are also performed in cases of rape or incest, or
when the pregnancy is threatening the health of the mother or the fetus is not viable.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, there has been a 50 drop in teen abortions since
the peak in late 1980s. Birth rates increased 4 and abortion rates increased 1.
Guttmacher Institute believes that this may be due to any number of causes, including poor
sex education among teens.
Teen abortions are more common in the U.S. than in Canada and Western Europe,
but less common than in China and Eastern Europe. Currently twenty-four of every one-
thousand teens have an abortion. This means that over two-hundred thousand teens get
abortions every year. New York is one of the top six states where teen abortion rates are
the highest. Plus we (NY) are one of four states where over half or the pregnancies end in
abortion.
Teens that go through abortion often have the emotional effects of regret, guilt or
shame, anger, feeling lonely or having relationship problems, lowered self-confidence,
depression and anxiety, sleep problems, eating disorders, and suicidal thoughts. Some teens
were forced or pressured into having an abortion, even medical reasons, or they didn`t
have a support system. Counseling and discussion of all of a pregnant tens option,
including parenting and adoption, is usually recommended for teens prior to the decision to
have an abortion due to abortion`s potential negative emotional effects.
Pregnancy and birth are significant contributors to high school dropout rates
among girls. About 50 of teen mothers receive a high school diploma by age 22, versus
nearly 90 of women who had not given birth during adolescence. Majority of children of
teenage mothers are more likely to have lower school achievement and drop out of high
school, have more health problems, be incarcerated at some time during adolescence, give
birth as a teenager, and face unemployment as a young adult. These children will most
likely growing up in poverty, having parents with low levels of education, growing up in a
single-parent family, and having low attachments to and performance in school.
So next time you think about having sex think about it ~Should I take 10 seconds to
use contraceptive? OR ~Should I spend the next 9 months carrying a child inside me, to
give birth to it, and have to take care of it for the rest of my life. While going through all
the sacrifices of having a child.



















Work Cited
O www.teenpregnancystatistics.orgJcontentJteenage-abortion-statistics.btml
O www.pregnantteenbelp.orgJpregnant-teen-issuesJsingle-teen-parentingJ
O www.pregnantteenbelp.orgJstatisticsJteenage-pregnancy-statistics-J
O www.pregnantteenbelp.orgJstatisticsJteen-pregnancy-statisticsJ