Teenage Pregnancy

Today in the world, teenage pregnancy is on the rise. 4 in 10 teenage girls become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20. This is a result of more than 900,000 teenage pregnancies a year. The United States has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in the world. Because of all of this, reducing this rate is one of the most strategic and direct means available to improve overall child well-being and to reduce persistent child poverty. There are serious consequences for both the teen mom and her baby and society.
Being a teenage mom can cause serious problems. With being a teen mother, young girls are less likely to finish high school and more likely be single parents. Less than one-third of teenage girls under the age of 18 and have a child earn a high school diploma. There are health problems too with being a young mom too. This includes poor weight gain, pregnancy-included hypertension, anemia, sexually transmitted diseases and cephalopelvic disproportion. Later in life, these girls are likely to be obese and hypertension than when girls who wait to have kids later in life. Teenage pregnancy is closely linked to poverty and single parenthood. A 1990 study showed that almost one-half of all teenage mothers and over three-quarters of unmarried teen mothers began receiving welfare within five years of the birth of their first child. Reducing teen pregnancy and child-bearing is an obvious place to anchor serious efforts to reduce poverty in future generations.
Not only is teen pregnancies bad for the mother, its also bad for the child too. The children end up suffering from high rates of low birth weight and related health problems. Low birth rate raises the problems of infant death, blindness ,deafness, chronic respiratory problems, mental retardation, mental illness, and cerebral palsy. Children of teen moms often receive not enough parenting from their parents. This is because typically the parents are too young to handle the demanding job of being a parent to a child. Because the parents are young, the cant provide the lifestyle that their baby needs. What also tends to happen that the babies are neglected and abused. A recent analysis found that there are 110 reported incidents of abuse and neglect per 1,000 families headed by a young teen mother. These children also end up with poor school habits. They don't do well on standard tests and are less likely to complete high school.
People also believe that teenage pregnancies are bad for the world and society too. The U.S. still leads the fully industrialized world in teen pregnancy and birth rates—by a wide margin. In fact, the U.S. rates are nearly double Great Britain's, at least four times those of France and Germany, and more than ten times that of Japan. Teenage pregnancies cost billions and billions each year. Nearly half a million children are born each year to teen moms.
There are many ways to prevent teen pregnancies. For one, abstinence is key. If you know your not ready to have a child and be a parent then your not ready to have sex. And if your already having sex, then make sure you are being careful. Use protection every single time. Not only does this prevent teen pregnancies, it also prevents sexually transmitted diseases.