Greetings to every single one of you! If given the opportunity to never be born, what would you do?

Will
you take it? or Will you continue to live as you do now?

What do you feel when you see a teenage mother carrying her child? Will you have sympathy
for her and her child? Are you gonna be saddened by what happened to her? Will you pass judgment?
Or will you be dissatisfied with the decisions she made? Early teenage pregnancy is a significant problem
that affects the entire population in today’s society. Adolescent pregnancy occurs when a girl, usually
between the ages of thirteen and nineteen becomes pregnant. According to a study, the reasons why
teenage pregnancy is widespread today are due to the lack of parental supervision, sexual behavior of
the youth, insufficient knowledge about sex, exploitation by older men, and especially the aftermath of
poverty.

Early teenage pregnancy perpetuates the cycle of poverty and inequality as most pregnant teens have
no source of income and experience greater financial challenges later in life. When teens plan to engage
in sexual activity, they must consider whether or not they can handle a child in their lives. They must be
physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and financially prepared for what may happen. Most of our
laws are already there, but we have failed in implementation. Some countries are implementing laws
and policies aimed at recognizing the changing capacities of young people, promoting access to sexuality
and reproductive health knowledge and resources, guarding against discrimination and stigma, and
recognizing those right to privacy that I think is lacking in our country. I think one of the solutions to this
is by strengthening the capacity of parents for the youth that even if the youth want to discuss issues
about sexuality with their parents, they are unlikely to effectively provide the necessary information,
due to socio-cultural taboos, lack of sufficient knowledge, so parents also need to be supported.

I believe that the Department of Education (DepEd) should start engaging in sex education subjects in
the 7th to 12th grade in high school because this is the beginning of adolescence and this is where
young people become more curious about stuff. The problem with Filipinos is that they see Sex
Education as a sensitive topic to talk about which shouldn't be. Filipinos' mindsets are closed when it
comes to the issue of sex but how can young people learn properly if they limit their minds. Since
technology has such a powerful effect and we invest so much time on social media, we can create pages
and have a teen pregnancy campaign to inform people about the proper use of condoms or
contraceptives, as well as to remind they that if they are not ready to become parents, they should not
engage in any sexual activity. Through these social media outlets, we can educate and raise awareness
on these issues. One of the things they should consider is if you get pregnant that’s because you want to
take care of a child, you want to have a good and comfortable life for your child, not just because it's an
accident or just because you want to make your child as ‘your retirement plan’.