Teen-age pregnancy

Teenage Pregnancy School Table of Contents Pg. No. …….. Headings 3…………….. Introduction 3…………….. Negative Effects upon Girls 3…………….. Negative Effects upon Boys
4…………….. Negative Effects upon Babies
4…………….. Conclusion
5…………….. Works Cited
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25 October 2011.
Teenage Pregnancy
Introduction
African Americans have come far and are proud that our country now has Barack Obama as the first African American President. But this positive position does not obscure the fact that progress for many in the community is hampered by factors such as an alarmingly high rate of teen pregnancy and parenthood with the attendant lack of educational progress, the rate of aids in the African American community particularly among the African American men. “ About 4 out of 10 girls in the United States will get pregnant by age 20 – about 1-million of them each year” (“ Babies having babies”). Nowadays, percentage of the high school males and females that have sexual intercourse is 48 and 45 respectively (CDC cited in Klein). These factors could be alleviated with the ready access to free condoms through schools and other agencies.
Negative Effects upon Girls
For a lot of African American girls, the academic career culminates in the teenage pregnancy. Most parents don’t educate their daughters further after she becomes pregnant. The pregnant teenagers invite the wrath of the family and incur societal insult and embarrassment.
Negative Effects upon Boys
Many countries have very strict rules in place regarding the division of responsibility of teenage pregnancy between the teenage boy and the girl that have had sexual intercourse. In most of the cases, the boy has to assume the role of financial provider for the family. Teenage sexual intercourse exposes both sexual partners to a lot of health risks. More than 9 million of the total 19 million cases of the sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that surface on the yearly basis occur in people that are aged between 15 and 24 years (“ Teenage pregnancy”). These STIs include but are not limited to Syphilis, Chlamydia and HIV. “ Nationwide, 12. 7% of students had been tested for HIV, not counting tests done when donating blood” (CDC 23).
Negative Effects upon Babies
Teenage pregnancy often causes unfavorable outcomes for the baby. Health of the fetus is fundamentally dependent upon the health of the mother. In addition to the natural immaturity of the body, several internal and external factors also play an important role in the undernourishment of the girl and the fetus. Such factors include but are not limited to embarrassment, anxiety, poverty and lack of responsibility. Many of the babies born in the teenage pregnancy have a low birth weight. “ 11. 7 percent of 15-year-old mothers had a low-birthweight baby in 2006; 18, 403 babies were born to girls this age, with 2, 153 of low birthweight” (Martin et al). Most teenage mothers want to have the baby delivered in a premature state. Many babies die soon after birth because of this interference. Babies with low birth weight normally have immature organs, mental retardation and unusual sugar levels in the blood. Life gets no better even if the baby survives. In early childhood, the baby does not get the required attention from the parent. Most teenage mothers become agitated and are not ready to babysit the child (Bodeeb).
Conclusion
Owing to the devastating effects of teenage pregnancy on the lives of both the sexual partners and the child, there is dire need to spread the use of contraception. “ Male condoms are 85–98% effective at preventing pregnancy” (“ Unintended pregnancy prevention”).
Works Cited:
“ Babies having babies.” 2010. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.
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Bodeeb, Julia. “ Effects of teenage pregnancy.” 6 Mar. 2011. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.
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CDC. “ Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance — United States, 2009.” Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report. vol. 59. 4 June 2010. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. .
Klein, Jonathan D. “ Adolescent Pregnancy: Current Trends and Issues.” Pediatrics
Digest. 2011. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. .
Martin, J. A. et al. ” Births: Final Data for 2006.” National Vital Statistics Reports. Vol.
57. no. 7. 7 Jan. 2009. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.
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“ Teenage pregnancy.” Nov. 2009. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.
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“ Unintended pregnancy prevention: Contraception.” 2011. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.
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