Solving the Social Problem of Teen Pregnancy

Having children can provide you with an opportunity to expand the size of your family, relish in the excitement of developing the knowledge and skills of your kid, and enjoy the experience of watching your children achieve their ambitions. However, having children is also a dramatic obligation that requires a significant amount of money, time and effort. The difficulty of raising children makes it a significant burden on people who have babies when they are young teenagers and have not yet been able to finish school or thrive with a successful career. Because teenage pregnancy is a severe social problem in the United States that can impair the lives of the mothers and diminish the economic progress of our society, the US must prevent the problem of teenage pregnancy by increasing resource availability and by improving the education regarding the issue.

Teenage pregnancy refers to teenagers or adolescents who become pregnant and have children before they are 20 years old. Teenage pregnancy among girls 15-19 years old is a problem in the US because of the excessive frequency at which teenage pregnancies are occurring within our society. According to the Office of Adolescent Health, approximately 305,000 teenagers give birth to babies each year. The statistics also indicate that about 14 percent of all females in the US become pregnant and give birth to a baby before their 20th birthday. Around 89 percent of teenage mothers are unmarried, and around 72 percent of adolescents who give birth are 18-19 years old. Regarding the frequency of teenage pregnancy among the different racial or ethnic groups, 24 percent of Hispanic females, 21 percent of black females, and 10 percent of white females become pregnant and give birth as adolescents. Additionally, 82 percent of teen pregnancies in the US are unplanned and 59 percent of the pregnancies result in live birth, while 14 percent end in a miscarriage and 26 percent are ended with an abortion procedure (Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing, 2013). Although the teenage pregnancy and adolescent childbearing rates have been steadily decreasing over the last decade, teenage females in the US are still giving birth at a dramatically higher rate than almost every other industrialized nation, and the teenage pregnancies are causing significant problems for the females involved and for our entire society.

The claim being made is that the excessive rates of teenage pregnancy in the US is a social problem that harms the mothers and our culture, for the pregnancies prevent the teenage mothers from utilizing educational and professional opportunities and from contributing to the financial progress of the national economy. The statement is replete with rhetorical aspects, such as the notion that the pregnancies harm teenage girls and all of society, which stimulates the emotions and causes the audience to experience anger regarding the detrimental effects of the issue. The concept of teenage mothers sacrificing valuable opportunities as a result of early motherhood is also a rhetorical concept, as the reference to opportunity evokes a positive and inspirational reminder that all humans in the US possess the immense potential to work hard and become great at a craft (Best, 2012). Although there are rhetorical aspects to the claim, there is also sufficiently compelling evidence to support the premise of the claim that teenage pregnancy and adolescent childbearing is a social problem that can impair the lives of the mothers and the financial stability of the American culture.

Females expose themselves to many health risks by becoming pregnant and giving birth as teenagers. Because the bodies and reproductive organs of teenaged females are still maturing and developing, many research studies demonstrate that younger girls have much higher risks of experiencing birth complications or health problems for the mother or baby. Pregnant adolescents have a 9 percent chance of giving birth to a low-weight baby, a statistic which increases with each successive baby that the respective teenage female delivers. Additionally, approximately 70 percent of pregnant teenagers receive inadequate health care services or insufficient prenatal care treatment, which further increases the risk of birth or health complications (Teen Pregnancy). Thus, having a baby at such an early age can cause dramatic problems for adolescent females because the females are vulnerable to experience significant birth complications that can impair the health of the mother or her newborn baby.

There are many educational and professional problems that teenage mothers often experience and that can diminish the quality of life for the mothers. Compared to other adolescents, teenage mothers are distinctly more likely to quit school and live under severe financial distress as they mature into adulthood, which causes them to experience higher poverty rates, increased welfare use, lower labor force participation and lower wages. For instance, many research studies indicate that about 33 percent of teenage mothers drop out of high school, and less than 2 percent of the mothers earn a college degree before they turn 30 years old (Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing, 2013). The biggest social problem is that teenage pregnancy often prevents the mothers from utilizing the many educational and occupational opportunities that are available in the US. Having a child typically requires the teenage mothers to work incessantly to pay for the many expenses that are associated with raising a child, and thus having a child can prevent the teenage mothers from being able to attend college to become educated, strengthen their thinking skills and become great at a particular craft. Also, the abundance of time and effort spent taking care of the baby diminishes the amount of time the mothers can spend on their craft, and thus the loss of free time diminishes the ability of the females to complete college or achieve excellence at a skill. As a result, teenage mothers often demonstrate difficulties in fulfilling successful professional careers, and this occupational problem causes teenage mothers to experience very high poverty rates, as approximately 67 percent of all teenage mothers live in poverty and financial distress (Teen Pregnancy).

Although the poverty diminishes the quality of life for the teenage mother and her family, the increased poverty rate also damages the economic progress of our entire society. Less people are contributing to society as a result of teen mothers being unable to complete school or obtain high employment, and the poverty caused by teen pregnancies prevents the mothers from being able to spend money on various expenses or from injecting money into the national financial system. According to a report conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, each teenager that does not attend college costs the US economy $260,000. Studies indicate that if all of the teen dropouts had completed school from 2008 to 2011, the national economy would have received an additional $154 billion (Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing, 2013). Thus, by impelling teenagers to quit school and refrain from receiving college degrees, teen pregnancy can prevent the mothers from fulfilling prolific careers, earning high wages or from contributing to the national financial system.

Additionally, teenage pregnancy harms the national financial system by reducing the tax revenue of the country and by increasing the total amount that each tax payer must spend for assistant services. The American taxpayers must pay up to $28 billion a year for teen childbearing as a result of public assistance payments, lost tax revenue and larger public health care expenses (Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing, 2013). Although the US government and American society should help the teenage mothers remain financial stable and provide sufficient support for their children, the frequent rate at which adolescent females have children in the US impairs the progress of the national financial system.

Another social problem that is caused by teenage pregnancy is that children born and raised by teenagers have an increased risk of experiencing dramatically difficult circumstances and living conditions. Many teenagers are not equipped with the superior knowledge and advanced experience required to successfully care for children, develop their intelligence and improve their skills. As a result, studies indicate that children of teenage mothers tend to struggle in school and to experience difficulties completing their education. Because the teenage mothers are often living around or beneath the poverty line, the children also typically must endure poverty and disadvantaged circumstances that challenge their ability to go to college and maintain jobs as they mature. The disadvantages that often accompany a family helmed by a teenage female causes the children of the families to experience an increased risk of getting into legal trouble, joining gangs, abusing drugs, becoming pregnant early, having employment problems, living in poverty and becoming dependant on welfare (Teen Pregnancy). Thus, the social problem of teenage pregnancy often requires children in our society to live under difficult circumstances and to suffer from a lack of resources that prevents them from being able to utilize our society’s educational and professional opportunities as they mature.

To develop and implement the most effective solutions to the social problem of teenage pregnancy, our culture must first understand the causes of the problem. Although there is not one specific cause to teenage pregnancy, compelling research studies have helped identify the most important factors that increase the risk of adolescents becoming pregnant. The imbalanced social construction of the US is one of the most consistent and influential causes of teen pregnancy. The social construction of the country has enabled some small communities to enjoy a significant abundance of wealth and resources, and for many other areas of the nation to suffer from a drastic lack of wealth and resources. Studies indicate that teen pregnancy occurs at significantly higher rates in poverty-stricken areas or disenfranchised neighborhoods than in high-income areas. Many experts claim that the higher teen pregnancy rates in poverty-stricken areas is caused by a lack of realistic hope, for the lack of economic and educational resources in these areas prevents the teenagers from being able to generate any hope that it is possible to complete college or achieve employment at prestigious positions. Middle class and suburban females often establish plans and hopes of going to college and fulfilling a prolific career in a craft that is appropriate for their particular passions and skills, and because having a baby would interfere with those hopes and plans, middle class and suburban girls typically take action to use contraception and avoid becoming pregnant. However, kids living in areas that experience high poverty rates do not possess the same hopes and plans of completing college and achieving an excellent career, and as a result these teenagers do not perceive that a teenage pregnancy would bear significant consequences for their lives or alter their opportunity prospects in any meaningful way. Because of the lack of resources and hope, the teenagers in disenfranchised areas are more likely to miss health care appointments and to stop using prescribed contraception devices without the advice of a health care professional (Gee, 2012). Thus, teenagers in poverty-stricken areas get pregnant at higher rates than in other areas because the lack of resources and opportunities prevents the teens from associating a pregnancy with dramatic consequences, from perceiving pregnancy as an impediment to valuable opportunities and from aggressively taking action to avoid pregnancy.

The subculture and social construct of religion in rural communities is also responsible for increasing the rates of teenage pregnancies. Research studies indicate that teenagers in rural communities become pregnant and have babies at dramatically higher rates than in urban areas or suburban communities. Although the low-income nature of many rural areas might facilitate teenage pregnancies, the rates are significantly intensified and magnified by the lack of health care and contraception resources that are available in these areas because of religious values. Many rural areas feature a strong value of religion and are dominated by traditional Christian attitudes. Most traditional doctrines of Christianity assert that the only purpose of sex is to exclusively procreate and have children, and thus the doctrines of many Christian communities are opposed to premarital sex, sex for pleasure, or the use of contraceptive devices. Because the religious values of many rural areas forbid and stigmatize sexual intercourse and the use of contraception devices, there is a very limited availability of reproductive health care centers, prenatal services and abortion clinics in rural areas, and the lack of access to these resources prevents many teenagers from using contraceptive methods to avoid pregnancies. Additionally, many reports indicate that the stigmatized and hostile attitude towards sexuality and contraceptive devices in these neighborhoods makes the teenagers ashamed and reluctant to purchase condoms and receive contraceptive services, which also increases the chances of the teenagers in the rural areas to become pregnant (Teen Childbearing in Rural America, 2013). Thus, by stigmatizing sexuality and by minimizing the availability of contraceptive services, the social construction of religious values that pervades many rural areas makes it extremely difficult for female teenagers to access contraceptive devices and increases the rates of teen pregnancy in rural communities.

The powerful influence that the media possesses in establishing the values of our society has also helped cause the excessive teen pregnancy rates that the US culture is currently experiencing. The media informs us of which values we should appreciate, how we should perceive the world and what behavior we should display. Several reports indicate that by obsessively focusing on pregnancy and motherhood, the media has facilitated or exasperated teen pregnancies by spreading a message that having children is a determining factor of success and that females must bear children to be considered successful. As a result, many teenagers absorb this message from the media and then believe that becoming pregnant and having a child impresses their peers, enhances their status as mature adults, and adorns their image with a level of prestige (Chang and Hopper, 2011). Thus, the extreme and excessive emphasis that the media places on childbearing deceives some teenagers into thinking that having a baby inherently provides them with an impressive and successful persona, which encourages them to take the risk of having unprotected sex.

Many reports indicate that teen pregnancy rates are also heightened by MTV television shows that concentrate on teenage pregnancy and adolescent mothers, including the popular shows “Teen Mom” and “16 and Pregnant.” Although the shows attempt to warn teenagers regarding the harmful nature of teen pregnancies, the determination to create entertaining episodes and acquire high ratings causes the programs to only focus on entertaining aspects of the character’s lives and to generally ignore the many problems and difficulties that often accompany teenage pregnancy. Additionally, MTV and other media outlets have converted the teenage girls on the shows into celebrities, as the girls often receive an abundance of media attention, magazine cover appearances, TV interviews and autograph signings. Thus, young girls in our society are being deceived by the media into admiring and revering the stars of these MTV teen pregnancy shows, and because people tend to imitate those who they admire, the shows are unintentionally encouraging teenagers to become pregnant so they can replicate their role models. Additionally, reports indicate that the intense desire for fame that resonates in our culture also motivates many teenaged fans of the shows to become pregnant as a method of getting onto reality shows and becoming famous (Chang and Hopper, 2011). Thus, the media obsession with pregnancy and the MTV shows about teen pregnancy are magnifying the problem of teen pregnancy by glamorizing pregnancy, glorifying pregnant teenagers, and by unintentionally encouraging other teenagers to also neglect contraception and become pregnant.

Although teenage pregnancy is a detrimental social problem for the families involved and for our culture, there are many solutions that can help alleviate the problem. One method of decreasing the excessive teenage pregnancy rates is for the media, which is a powerful influence over the values of our culture, to refrain from obsessing over pregnancy and to stop glorifying pregnant teenagers (Chang and Hopper, 2011). The media can also make teenagers reluctant to become pregnant by emphasizing the valuable opportunities that are available and the incredible potential each teen has to achieve greatness through hard work.

Social activism movements can also help educate teenagers, increase resources and reduce the teenage pregnancy rates in the US. Social activism organizations are essential for spreading information about important social problems, developing solutions to those problems and taking action to implement those strategies (Best, 2012). Many social activist organizations are available that help increase awareness about teen pregnancy and that help execute solutions to reduce the rates of teen pregnancy, including the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC has launched a program to actively prevent teen pregnancy, and the program includes increasing the education teenagers receive regarding sexual intercourse, contraceptive devices, and the difficulties of teenage pregnancy and adolescent motherhood. The CDC program also includes a strategy of helping to increase the number of prevention programs, reproductive health care, and prenatal care services in areas where such services are limited (Teen Pregnancy Prevention, 2013). Increasing the availability of reproductive health care services and improving the accessibility of contraceptive devices can motivate more teenagers to use contraception and avoid becoming pregnant.

Reducing the poverty levels of many US areas would be the most effective method of decreasing the pregnancy rates of teenagers. If we can distribute the money in our economy more evenly to relieve the poverty in many areas and increase the opportunities that children in disenfranchised neighborhoods possess to earn a college degree and fulfill a successful career, teenagers in those neighborhoods can then sincerely believe that they have opportunities for excellence and success. Furthermore, if teenagers in these neglected areas of the US witness people in their community going to college and obtaining prolific careers, the teenagers in the communities will most likely also plan on attending college and will in turn take action to use contraception and prevent pregnancy (Gee, 2012). Thus, decreasing the poverty rates and increasing the resources and opportunities that are available for teenagers in neglected areas would discourage the teenagers in these areas from becoming pregnant and would thus reduce the teen pregnancy rate in the country.

Teen pregnancy is a severe social problem that dramatically impairs the lives of the mothers, the circumstances of the children, and the financial progress of the American culture. However, there are many solutions that we can use to help reduce and minimize the teen pregnancy and adolescent childbearing rates in the United States. The American people and the US government should support the funding of programs that help prevent teen pregnancy by educating teenagers about contraception and teen pregnancy, by increasing the accessibility of reproductive health care services, and by enhancing the amount of educational resources and economic opportunities that are available for teenagers in impoverished areas.

References

Best, J. (2012). Social problems. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.

Chang, J., & Hopper, J. (2011, February 11). Pregnancy Pressure: Is MTV's 'Teen Mom' Encouraging Pregnancy for Fame? Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-pregnancy-fame-friends-teen-mom-star-jenelle/story?id=12891932

Gee, R. (2012, May 18). Teen Ambivalence Towards Pregnancy Points To Social Problems, Says Study. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/youth-radio-youth-media-international/teen-ambivalence-towards_b_1528799.html

Teen Childbearing in Rural America. (2013, January 15). Retrieved from http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/pdf/ss/ss47_teenchildbearinginruralamerica.pdf

Teen Pregnancy. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.smith.edu/ourhealthourfutures/teenpreg.html

Teen Pregnancy Prevention. (2013, February 12). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/PreventTeenPreg.htm

Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing. (2013, September 30). Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/reproductive-health/teen-pregnancy/trends.html