Teen Pregnancy: The Options
Teenage girls have enough to deal with these days. They have school, boys, and the media making them worry about being skinny, pretty, and popular. There is one thing that can crush all of that; becoming pregnant. Between 2005 and 2007, the teen pregnancy rate has increased 10%. It’s obvious that most teenagers aren’t ready to become a parent at such a young age. There are many options involved with teen pregnancy. The first one is whether or not the parents are going to talk to their daughter about sex. Then the second one is for the daughter to decide whether or not to become sexually active. Next is deciding whether she is going to protect herself of not. She also needs to decide whether she is going to have the baby, or get it aborted. If she does decided to keep it, there are two other options; adoption or raising it herself. When doing my researching this issue, I came across many interesting statistics from “The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy,” and an article on talking with teens about sex, from the “US State News”. I also found some informative articles by Bill Hewitt, Victor Flango, and Hayley Mick. Unplanned teenage pregnancy has many negative effects on teens, but can be prevented and dealt with in a very mature way.

This is a picture of a happy teen couple. They seem to have no cares in the world

The first option is up to the parents of the sexually active teen. They need to have a conversation about safe sex. When parents tell their children that they shouldn’t have sex, and not say anything else, they aren’t being good parents. They need to sit down and talk with their child about the risks and how to prevent bad situations. According to “Talking with you Teen Key to Preventing Pregnancy,” “parents should know they play a crucial role in their teen's sexual activity decisions” (Talking with your Teen). If their daughter decides to have sex, then she is just going to do whatever, and she may not know the proper precautions she needs to take. The article also states the important points to cover when talking to a teen. “Be clear about your own sexual values and attitudes, talk with your children early and often about sex - and be specific, help your teenagers understand they have options for the future that are more attractive than early pregnancy and parenthood, let your children know that you highly value education.” It is important to inform her about pregnancy and how it can really change her entire life.
The second option is up to the teen. She will decide whether or not to have sex. If she decides to have sex, she will decide whether or not to protect herself. According to the National Campaign to prevent teen and unplanned pregnancy, almost “50% of all high school students have had sex at least once in 2007” (The National Campaign). The same statistics state, it has been on a generally downward slope since 1991, decreasing 16%. Recently the numbers have started to rise back up. Deciding to have sex can be a very controversial issue. Many religious beliefs and morals are involved, with many people. For example, many Catholics choose to remain virgins till marriage. The bible encourages this and many people follow. She also need to decide whether or not to protect yourself, only “54.9%” (The National Campaign) of sexually active teenage girls use a condom during intercourse. Condoms and birth control can not only protect her from getting pregnant, but they can protect her from contracting sexually transmitted infections. In my opinion, if she has any respect for her or her partner’s body, she will wear a condom.

By the look on this young girls face you can tell she has some decisions to make, and lots of emotions are running through her body.

Once a teenage girl becomes pregnant she decides either to have the baby, or abort it. Many stressful emotions come with abortion. Sometimes depression will occur, but the mother needs to think about what is best for the child. Personally, I don’t think abortion is right. It may be a burden on your life to have a child, but she should have thought about that before she became sexually active. According to Haley Mick, author of “Abortion Rates Keep Dropping,” abortion rates have started to fall. Abortion rates dropped changed to “1.3 million to 1.2 million between 2004 and 2005” (Mick). The decline was surprising to me but made me happy. “Almost two-thirds of the U.S. decline was traced to eight jurisdictions that had fewer barriers to abortion and had committed to sex education” (Mick).

This teen seems too look young and like she is scared, or not ready to take on the task of being a mother.

If the mother decides to keep the baby, she has two options. She can either keep the baby or raise it herself. She can get help from her family and friends, or put the child up for adoption. Depending on the situation, either option can be fine. If she has a strong family, no money problems, and the confidence/knowledge to raise a baby, then maybe keeping it would be the best option. If she is already struggling with money, there isn’t a present father, and she is on her own, keeping the baby probably won’t be the best. It is definitely nice for the baby to be raised by his/her actually mother, but sometimes it isn’t the smartest option. There are many people out there who can’t have children, so they open their hearts and homes to children who aren’t fortunate enough to have parents. Victor Flango, author of “Adoption Statistics by State,” explains, “the overwhelming number of adoption petitions are granted” (Flango).

Adoption is an amazing thing and can be a blessing to a couple who can have kids.

When a teenage girl becomes pregnant, she is faced with many emotions and decisions. If she thinks she is mature enough to have sex, then she should think she is mature enough to take care of a child. According to Bill Hewitt, author of “Teen pregnancy ON THE RISE,” becoming pregnant can interfere with school too. He states, “fewer than half of all girls who become mothers before turning 18 ever get their diplomas” (Hewitt). Obviously female teens should try an avoid getting pregnant until they are finished college and are ready to settle down. It’s important that they are fully matured and ready for the responsibility. Some teens may think they are ready for a baby but they don’t realize how hard and expensive it can be. Hewitt also states, “Teens these days are less concerned about sexually transmitted diseases” (Hewitt). I find this sad and makes me ashamed to be a teenage girl in today’s society. A girl in my high school got pregnant our senior year. She had some major obstacles to deal with because of her situation. Her family was not very supportive of her pregnancy, she couldn’t go to prom, and worst of all, she was not allowed to walk on stage at our graduation. I look back on what she could have done different and it all comes down to one night. She made one small mistake, of not protecting herself. This changed her entire life and it has been a major struggle for her. Doing this research, I learned a lot from Hewitt, Flango, Mick, the US State News and The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies. I will probably learn more about this issue as my life progresses and I will try to inform others about what I know.

A baby is such a special gift, and should be taken care of properly and maturely.

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-Hewitt, Bill. “Teen Pregnancy ON THE RISE.” People. People Mag. 71. 1 June 2009. n. page. Web. 25 Oct. 2009.
-Flango, Victor E and Carol R. Flango. “Adoption Statistics by State.” Child Welfare. 72. June 1993.n. page. Web. 25 Oct. 2009.
-Mick, Hayley. “Abortion Rates Keep Dropping.” The Globe Review. L1. 22 May 2008. Web. 25 Oct. 2009.
-“Talking with your Teen Key to Preventing Teen Pregnancy.” US State News. 7 May 2008. N. page. Web. 25 Oct. 2009.
-“The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy”, 2009 Web. 25 Oct. 2009. http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/state-data/default.aspx.