Teen Pregnancy

[Fred]

I'm not sure if this is a relevant issue, but I think it's important.

Teen pregnancy: thoughts, comments?
I, for one, think its a terrible problem. Girls get kicked out of their homes, they drop out of school. and otherwise have their lives ruined by a little baby. Of course, sometimes it's completely their fault (or their parents/schools for not teaching them about safe sex), but other times its not.

[Jen M.]

I think this is a very big issue! I read this one memoir of a pregnant teen who had an abortion but was afraid to go out with another boy after that, she didn't know if she could trust herself. Her dad was superstrict on the people she hung out with (if they had a boyfriend and he had seen them kiss: no). Her life was a living hell. She was living is despair and depression.
In cases of rape... well, I really hope no one is disowned for that.
It's all the school's fault in my opinion. We need to have better sex-ed programs. We need to scare them about STD's and scary stories about pregnant teens. They should have to read memoirs like I did.
In a lot of cases, it's the boyfriends problem because they are the ones that want to do it. Most every time, teen girls do not want to and they do it because they want to make their horny boyfriend happy. GUYS AREN'T WORTH YOUR LIFE! sorry, just had to say that.

[Katie]

"We need to scare them about STD's and scary stories about pregnant teens."

We already do. Trust me. And it doesn't work. What we need is comprehensive contraception education.

"In a lot of cases, it's the boyfriends problem because they are the ones that want to do it. Most every time, teen girls do not want to and they do it because they want to make their horny boyfriend happy. GUYS AREN'T WORTH YOUR LIFE! sorry, just had to say that."

I find that comment sexist and discriminatory torwards teens.

Many, many more teen girls have sex because they love their boyfriends, and sex is pleasurable. Girls have mind of our own-we can make choices that aren't based on the guys. Comments like that stigmatize female sexuality, which I hate.

Teens don't just do things because of pressure or because everyone else is doing it. Many times we actually want to do something for ourselves. Teens aren't as stupid as you seem to think we are.

[Jen M.]

Hey, I know teens aren't stupid. I am a teen. I'm just saying that a lot of girls I know are pressured by their boyfriends. But as you said, a lot of the time they want to do it too. I said, "In a lot of cases", not all of the time or most of the time. There are many more reasons, including those you mentioned.

[Katie]

True, some are, but a lot of boys are pressured by their girlfriends, too. I don't know what it is like where you live, but I know that that rarely happens where I am.

[Lindsie]

I agree, teen pregnancy is a growing problem. Especially with the prevalence of sexuality that can seen through all types of media today and the lack of education about what consequences can result if you engage in sexual activites. I am not the type that says you can't have sex when you are young, but I do believe that the fact that more younger people are engaging in sex is only adding to the problem of teen pregnancy. Girls are getting their periods earlier and they are capable of becoming pregnant. And not many of those girls are mature enough to handle such a dilema. They do not plan on their bodies betraying them just because they felt like having some fun with their boyfriend. Lack of education is the biggest issue. Not all states are mandated to teach medically accurate information about sex and many do not require schools to cover both abstinence AND contraceptive methods when teaching about pregnancy and STDs. Pregnancy is just the visual consequence of the act, there is the underlying consequence of STDs being spread when kids are engaging in unprotected sex. This topic is a huge issue, especially because it concerns women's health and laws that are supposed to protect a woman's right to do with her body as SHE chooses. Education is the biggest thing I can think of that can improve circumstances. Give people knowledge so they will know, without a doubt, what the consequences of their actions can bring and they can prepare themselve to handle or prevent negative consequences.
(Sorry for the rant, this weighs heavy on my mind due to courses I am taking this semester :)

[Katie]

All I can say is abstinence education=fail. Kids need to learn about contraception, in explicit detail. That means name all products and common brand names, the efficiency of each, where to get them, how to put them on/take them, and how the kind you use is a personal choice best discussed with a doctor. In my opinion, this should happen by the time the kids are in sixth or seventh grade-yes, before they are teens. There were kids in my eighth grade class having sex. One supposedly got pregnant and an abortion, which I'm willing to state is a possibility, but I know better than to trust the rumor mill.

Anyway, teach about contraception and it will go down. That is the only way.

[Lindsie]

I completely agree they need explicit education early. I was oblivious in grade school and I didn't care to listen about what other were doing- I was off in my own little world. But when my brother and sister (6 and 8 years younger than me) went through, i heard them tell some stories about their friends and I was horrified to hear what some kids were doing so young...

[Christina]

I think one of the main problems surround teen pregnancy is the "shaming" aspect that goes along with abstinence-only education. Studies show abstinence-only education has no effect (in some cases a negative affect!) on teen pregnancy rates. All it does is ensure that kids don't know how to use condoms, and don't know how to use contraception, in hopes that this will somehow stop them from sexing it up. Riiiiight.

I think many of those who agree with AO education are so caught up in the morality aspect of it all (that god forbid teens know how to use condoms because sex is immoral!) they refuse to admit or even see how dangerous it is for teens' sexual health. It does make me wonder how many prolifers, who as a whole tend to be abstinence only supporters, really care about reducing the number of abortions. If they did, you'd think they'd support sex education that actually reduces unwanted pregnancy. But no. It seems their agenda is based more around"slut-shaming" and supporting sexual ignorance than anything. :(

[Katie]

I'm of the opinion that if people who are "pro-life" really cared about life, they would accept that sex and unwanted pregnancy are a part of life, and they aren't saving lives by trying to outlaw abortion.

It is all about fear for them, and that fear is often based on things that only happened because of them. They fear that there children (especially girls) will be stigmatized for pre-marital or teenage sex, with they are the ones doing the stigmatizing themselves. Whether it is trying to end abortion, using sexual epithets (i.e. slut), or thinking teens are to stupid and immature to know about contraception, people who are "pro-life" created the problem, and their solutions are only making the problem worse.

[Khyrinthia]

Teen pregnancy= not good. Especially since it makes people do this.

[Becka]

The thing is, they give a lot of sex education in English schools.
We learn about the different forms of contraception, and the efficiency of each.
Personally, I think the problem is more with the parents. I know teenagers have their own minds (hey, I am one) and I know that they make their own decisions, but I know a lot of parents (where I live, at least) have no interest in talking to their kids about safe sex, either because they don't want to discuss it, or because they deny that teenagers actually do it before marriage.

[Laura]

I think that teen pregnancy is not something to be prevented, but accepted. Teens will have sex, and will possibly end up pregnant. Programs in place to help, such as Planned Pregnancy, are great because they enable the teens to look at their situation. Abortion and adoption are acceptable choices, as well as keeping the child.

While pregnancy in teens can lead to inappropriate choices, such as drugs/alcohol/prostitution/gangs/dropping-out, it can also open the teens eyes to being more responsible. It is possible for the teen to still have a proper education, a roof over the heads, and be a caring parent to their child. Not all teen pregnancy cases will end poorly.