Kristy+K.

**Teen Pregnancy** By: Kristy Kjell

Imagine you just woke up for the third time tonight because a baby is crying in the room next door. You crawl out of the nice warm bed, and your feet touch the cold hard ground. You are tired, but you get up anyways. You walk over to the baby and start rocking him until he calms down, and he goes to sleep. Then you make your way back to your bed and crawl in, and before you can close your eyes, your alarms start to buzz telling you that it is time for you to go to school. You have a math test today, and you just don’t feel up to it, but you have no choice. You are a teen mother. Hundreds of girls go through this same scenario everyday. They have this hard life that they could have prevented. So why are all this girls getting pregnant? That is what I would like an answer to.

It is not hard to imagine that America has the highest number of teenage pregnancy. There are about 51.1 teenage pregnancies in the U.S.A out of 1,000 teenage girls (Lindenmeyer). When I heard that information I thought that that wasn’t so bad. Then I put it in to perspective, there is about 2,500 students at my school. About half of them are girl, roughly 1,250. That meant that about 60 girls in my school alone would be teenage mothers! I was less then thrilled about that fact.
 * Teenage Pregnancy: **

Most people would assume that the rate of teenage pregnancy has raised the past couple of years; that is not true. Teenage pregnancy was at an all time high in 1957 having the birth rate at 96.3 for every 1000 girls (Teenage Pregnancy Timeline). From then on the rate of teenage pregnancy has gone down; untill 2009. The rate went from 49.3 pregnancy out of 1,000 to 50.4 for every 1000 (Teenage Pregnancy Timeline).
 * History of Teenage Pregnancy: **

So why is this year one of the first years that teen pregnancy rate has gone up. Well, according to the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health teenagers are still having sex, but the major difference is that they are not useing birth control pills, or condoms. Due to this, teenage pregnancy has gone up (ProQuest Staff). In this day and age media is telling teenagers that sex is one of the greatest things they will ever do. There are movies purely on people trying to find some way to get sex. Movie stars are getting pregnant all the time, and making it look glamorus. Consequence: ** What is the big deal if a teenager gets pregnant? They deal with it and teach there kids to not do what they did. Well that’s not totally true. “Studies have shown that sons of teen mothers are thirteen present more likely to end up in prison, while teen daughters are twenty-two present more likely to become teen mothers themselves." (W. Liza) The boyfriends pressure the girls into having sex, while the girl gets the repercussions. The younger the girl is the more likely she is to die during childbirth. If they are as young as fifteen they are 15 times more likely to die while giving birth (Teenage Pregnancy Timeline).
 * Why the change: **
 * 

There are many shows on television right now about teenage pregnancy as well. Some of the shows such as: Teen Mom, Sixteen and Pregnant, and Secret life of the American Teenager. Also not too long ago a very popular movie came out about teenage pregnancy called Juno. All of these shows and movies are really popular. The question is: it is okay for media to show shows like that? Does it have a positive or negative effect on teenagers? Juno is a favorite movie by lots of teenage girls. They have positive feelings with movies about teenage pregnancy. Is that good? Would someone maybe want to get pregnant so their life could be more like their favorite movie's favorite character? People now days would do almost anything to get famous, would some try to get pregnant so they could be on the television show Teen Mom? Or is the media showing just how difficult it is too been a teenager, and also a parent? Should this show be allowed to be aired?
 * Media: **

Everyday this problem grows and grows, so what do we do? Most teenagers wish they would have waited to have sex (W. Liza). If most teens wished they would have waited then why do we still have the problem? “Three out of four girls say that they only have sex because their boyfriends want them to (W. Liza).” Many people believe that as long as you have safe sex, then you don't have to worry about becoming pregnant. That is not true the only way to be sure you will not get pregnant is to abstain from sex, until you can deal with the reproductions. If you still are having sex, make sure you are using multiple types of protection. They are many different kinds of protaction out there. Some of the oppitions are the birth control pill or patch, condoms, intrauterine devices (IUD), the Depo-Provera injection, diaphragms, spermicides, and cervical caps (Teen Pregnancy and Abortion.”). Using these different forms of protection greatly decreases the chance of an unwanted child. Still the only 100% sure way to know you will not get pregnant is to not have sex. The best solution to the whole problem is having parents and teachers educate the teenagers on the risk of having sex at a young age.
 * Solution:**

This is a great video, showing what is going on in America right now. media type="youtube" key="wO2rBxu0RHw" height="344" width="425" Is there a really solution to this problem? The best we can do right now is to have parents educate their kids about the risks that go along with having sex at a young age. Want to know more? This links will take you to website with more information: [] [] [] [] []
 * Work Cited **

Work Cited Lindernmeyer, Kriste. “Teen Pregnancy.” //Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood: In History of Society.// Ed. Paula S. Fass. Vol. 3. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 811-813. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Gale. 1 Feb. 2010 < [|http://go.galegroup.com] > "Teenage Pregnancy Timeline." Leading Issues Timelines 2009: n.p. //<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">SIRS Researcher. //<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Web. 03 February 2010. < [|http://sks.sirs.com] > <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">“Teen Pregnancy and Abortion." Abortion: An Eternal Social and Moral Issue. Sandra M. Alters. Information Plus Reference Series Detroit: Gale, 2008. 69-88. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. 5 Feb. 2010 <http://go.galegroup.com>. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Wilson. Liza. "Teenage Parents Face Daunting Challenges." //Opposing Viewpoints: Teenage// //<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Pregnancy //<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">. Ed. Auriana Ojeda. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003. //Opposing Viewpoints// //<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Resource Center //<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">. Gale. 1 Feb. 2010 <http://find.galegroup.com>.