Essay/Term paper: Teen pregnancy

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Sex

Teen Pregnancy

There are a lot of teen mothers growing up in this world wondering, what if I would have stayed in school? What could I have become? Would it have made my life easier if I had thought first?
Teens don"t think of the consequences of their actions. They don"t think that the aftermath of their irresponsibility can lead to pregnancy. Having a child comes with a lot of responsibility. The teen doesn"t fully understand that all free time is lost, that she will have to find some may to support herself and the child, and that any of her aspirations for future plans are now drastically changed. Children take up a lot of time, which also means, no more school.
If we can some how get through to them that this is what happens when you get irresponsible, it will eliminate a big portion of the problem. One of the best ways of getting the point across is to have a guest speaker that has been through a teen pregnancy before. Whether it be, the person that it actually happened to or that teens mother, which is some times even better.
It all comes down to the education of the teen being the best form of prevention. The more they know about sex and it"s consequences at a young age the less likely they are to are to go out and be irresponsible about it.
Teaching teens about different types of protection and how they work is some times one of the best ways of keeping the number of teen pregnancies down. Not to mention a fall in the number of teen sexually transmitted diseases.
The reason why teaching about protection is good is obvious. The reason the words "some times" are underlined is because teaching them about sex some times drives a teen that normally wouldn"t have had sex till later on in there lives to think, "well, it seems like everyone is doing it. If it"s important enough that we must learn about it in school then I guess it"s normal." So the argument that education is the best prevention goes both ways.
On another plane, parents can help and/or hurt the situation. Every once in awhile at the dinner table or in some public place it seems that parents or even relatives are always wanting to know if you have a girlfriend yet or not. This is definitely not an extreme case but there is always that subconscious thought in the back of there heads that"s saying, I guess I should get on the ball and start looking for a mate.
On the other hand, though not every parent thinks so, but their children do listen to them. Any words of advice or even telling them about your own experiences as a teen will help. Even if the parent doesn"t know much about the subject they should try to tell the teen that and a little of what they do know. That will make the child think you care and maybe think twice about their actions. Teens are not dumb and if it seems to them that you are making and honest effort and you really believe in what you are saying they will respect that and listen.
There is no real solution to the teen pregnancy problem but education and teen to parent communication are good steps in the right direction. We need to let our children know that we are there for them and that we care. After all no one wants to think of what they "could have" become.