Okay, so when i was last at college, we were asked to choose a particular topic to write about in college, and i thought teenage pregnancy seems to be a very well known subject, and to many a growing problem, therefore seen it as a great discursive piece to write about.
I'm here to see your views and opinions on the matter in hand.
I'm here to see your views and opinions on the matter in hand.
Teenage Pregnancy – Who Is Responsible?
Baby-faced Alfie, who is merely thirteen – yet has the look of an eight year old – has recently become a father when Chantelle Steadman, his girlfriend of only fifteen gave birth to their daughter, Maisie Roxanne. Alfie, who’s voice has not yet broken, described how he and Chantelle decided not to have an abortion when they found out she was pregnant. “I thought it would be good to have a baby” the young father addressed, “I didn’t think about how we would afford it. I don’t really get pocket money. My dad sometimes gives me £10.” Maisie was conceived after Chantelle and Alfie – just 12 at the time – had a single night of unprotected sex. So who is to blame? The media? The parents? Or the youngsters themselves?
With one of the highest rate of teenage pregnancy than most other western European countries, reducing unintended teenage pregnancy is a national target for the Scottish Government. According to the National Health Service, teenage pregnancies have been on the increase, and so has triggered a vast political rage with Tory leader David Cameron. He was horrified when he saw the story of the young parents Alfie Patten and Chantelle Steadman, and describes:
"When I saw these pictures this morning, I just thought how worrying that in Britain today children are having children. I hope that somehow these children grow up into responsible parents but the truth is parenthood is just not something they should be thinking about right now."
The teenage pregnancy rate for ages below 20 for the year 2006 was 57.9 per 1,000. The rate peaked in 1998 with a rate of 58.3 per 1,000 then there was a gradual decline to 54.0 per 1,000 in 2002. Since then there has been an increase to the present rate. The national target that was decided for teenage pregnancy is to reduce the pregnancy rate (per 1000 population) by 20% in under 16 year olds from 8.5 in 1995 to 6.8 in 2010. Some may say that some of the main factors that teenage pregnancy has become an increasing problem are that it is linked to deprivation, with the rates of teenage pregnancy in deprived areas more than treble those of the least deprived areas, the lack of communication a parent has with their offspring about all aspects of sex, the glamorization of pregnancy the media proposes to teens nowadays, and of course, the somewhat poor structure of sex education within schools.
The escalating rates of teenage pregnancy are sparked by the deficiency of sex education within schools. Up to 50 children a day, as young as twelve years, old are contacting Childline, terrified that they may be pregnant, feeling pressure to have sex, and others purely ask about the facts of life. According to statistics, in the last year, 5985 girls and 503 boys called ChildLine to discuss worries about pregnancy. Sue Minto, of ChildLine explains:
"Children are in the dark about the biological and emotional aspects of sex. This leaves them without the knowledge they need to make informed, responsible decisions, so they are getting caught up in sexual situations that could have serious implications in their lives."
Now the NSPCC, who administrate the confidential freephone 24-hour ChildLine service, are calling for sex education to be a compulsory part of the school curriculum, delivered by specially trained staff. Local authorities and head-teachers can set their own sex education policies. Most children do not learn about sex until primary six or seven, when they are ten or eleven years old. On the contrary, experts warn that sex education should start at a much earlier stage, and the parents’ role is necessary.
The underprovided communication on the subject of sex between teenagers and their parents could be one of the factors due to teenage pregnancy. Some teens try to solve their problems in such strange ways. In particular, they might try and act like an adult, and want independence, and as a result, they feel the need to have a baby, thinking that it will prove that they are “grown up”. Some people may believe that the parents should have been keeping an eye out for their teen. Sure they can do this, but there is so much a parent can do. "Don't have sex!" and "wear a condom" could be the only phrases many parents offer their teens as a means of caution towards avoiding teen pregnancy. However, the more sincere and sensitive a parent is to their teen, it will be easier for them have a close and open relationship, thus being comfortable enough to talk about sex. Yet not enough parents have a close enough relationship for them to be able to be open to talk about sex. Heather Brandon from an online discussion about teenage pregnancies, portrays this to the readers:
“The more open and receptive a parent is to their teen the easier it will be for them to come and talk about personal problems, (many young girls would rather ask their mothers personal questions rather than ask their friends as do teen boys) but if the parent teen relationship is not close, the teen will feel very uncomfortable and ashamed to approach the parent.”
Many parents might believe that if they do not talk about sex, teenage pregnancy will not happen, and other parents may not even bring up the subject of pre marital sex, because it is taboo to their culture or religion. Both of these approaches are not the best way to tackle the prevention of teen pregnancy. Whether a child is raised strictly, religiously, or not, they will eventually become curious with sex, as this is human nature and it should not be suppressed, by parents in fact, when sexuality or sexual feelings are suppressed it too can cause rebellion which leads to defiant behaviour which could then lead to teen pregnancy.
The media has become one of the main sex educators, and influences of pregnancies within teens today. Television shows, movies, music, magazines, etc. often choose unplanned pregnancies as a plotline. Television shows are becoming increasingly more scandalous and racy than they had been in previous years, leading some to believe that sex in television is the cause of the “pregnancy pact” phenomenon among teenage girls. It seems that the media and Hollywood have glamorized pregnancy so much that for some reason, misguided girls find it more acceptable. Movies like Juno and Knocked Up are not setting a particular virtuous example to our younger society, however are portraying teenage pregnancy from several angles. Also glamorization of celebrities who are pregnant, yet have no notion of who the father might be. Jane Brown, a journalism professor, describes in her report:
"This is unusual and rare that we would have movies like Juno or Knocked Up, or that we would now be glamorizing celebrities who are pregnant and we don't even know who the fathers are. For girls, looking to see who's got a baby bump is really compelling somehow."
While mass media is definitely pushing its boundaries and has caused young girls as well as grown women to take up extremist behaviour. While it is definitely okay and right to point fingers, people are only pointing fingers at mass media and do not believe that anything else can cause such an extreme outcome. Education is the most powerful resource anyone can have and it’s the only thing no one can take away from you. The same applies for the subject of sex, especially when you’re talking about teenagers. Every person deserves the education they need to go out in the world and make something of themselves and of their lives. Sex in television cannot be the scapegoat on which to blame teen pregnancy. It is undeniable that media plays an important role in the lives of the youth and does have the power to impact the views of teens, but teens themselves must take the responsibility in the choices they make that lead to pregnancy.
Many people may perhaps feel that the responsibility lies within the teenagers themselves. Of course, the adolescents are having the unprotected sex, and so, chances are a baby could be conceived. Teenagers nowadays might feel the need to be “grown up” due to many factors such as peer pressure. Peer pressure appears to be one of the main causes of underage sex within the younger generation. Some teenagers decide to have sexual relationships because their friends think sex is cool. Others feel pressured by the person they are dating. Still, others find it easier to give in and have sex than to try to explain why not. Binge drinking, smoking, taking drugs and underage sexual activity are becoming alarmingly widespread in today's adolescents mainly because of this desire to be accepted. And so, it only seems fair to set the blame on the teenager for being utterly “careless”. However, many young teenage girls might see themselves as have nothing to endeavour for, things just seem out of reach. Cornell University researcher Andrea Parrot illustrates:
"Too many teenage girls see themselves as having nothing to strive for -- they can't see graduating from high school because they have few role models to follow, their teachers give them little encouragement about their abilities, their families are chaotic and their friends are on drugs. Parenting looks like the best thing going, many girls think, because babies provide an immediate source of unconditional love."
Researchers now know that certain factors predispose girls to choose early motherhood over other goals. These include poverty, school failure, a mother or sister who was a teen mother and living in a dangerous neighbourhood. On the other hand, boys typically have different reasons than girls for engaging in sexual activity. Boys are more hormonally driven whilst girls are typically more emotionally driven at this age. Until we can fully acknowledge and understand the reasons why teen boys and girls engage in sexual activity, the resolution of the problem will be somewhat problematical.
To summarise, children having children seems to be a commonplace. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. However, people might believe teenage mothers are not mature enough to look after a baby. For many, the "just say no" approach prevents teenage pregnancy the way "Have a nice day" cures chronic depression. Maybe society should be giving teenagers something to aspire to, that they would not risk by getting pregnant. New techniques are being tried, such as schemes in places where young mothers give talks in high schools about their experiences. To me, this is perhaps a rather intellectual way to go. Nevertheless it is important to ensure that teenage boys are equally involved in these initiatives. Many people are calling for benefits to be reduced, although it must be remembered that every baby deserves a decent start in life, regardless of how it is conceived.
With one of the highest rate of teenage pregnancy than most other western European countries, reducing unintended teenage pregnancy is a national target for the Scottish Government. According to the National Health Service, teenage pregnancies have been on the increase, and so has triggered a vast political rage with Tory leader David Cameron. He was horrified when he saw the story of the young parents Alfie Patten and Chantelle Steadman, and describes:
"When I saw these pictures this morning, I just thought how worrying that in Britain today children are having children. I hope that somehow these children grow up into responsible parents but the truth is parenthood is just not something they should be thinking about right now."
The teenage pregnancy rate for ages below 20 for the year 2006 was 57.9 per 1,000. The rate peaked in 1998 with a rate of 58.3 per 1,000 then there was a gradual decline to 54.0 per 1,000 in 2002. Since then there has been an increase to the present rate. The national target that was decided for teenage pregnancy is to reduce the pregnancy rate (per 1000 population) by 20% in under 16 year olds from 8.5 in 1995 to 6.8 in 2010. Some may say that some of the main factors that teenage pregnancy has become an increasing problem are that it is linked to deprivation, with the rates of teenage pregnancy in deprived areas more than treble those of the least deprived areas, the lack of communication a parent has with their offspring about all aspects of sex, the glamorization of pregnancy the media proposes to teens nowadays, and of course, the somewhat poor structure of sex education within schools.
The escalating rates of teenage pregnancy are sparked by the deficiency of sex education within schools. Up to 50 children a day, as young as twelve years, old are contacting Childline, terrified that they may be pregnant, feeling pressure to have sex, and others purely ask about the facts of life. According to statistics, in the last year, 5985 girls and 503 boys called ChildLine to discuss worries about pregnancy. Sue Minto, of ChildLine explains:
"Children are in the dark about the biological and emotional aspects of sex. This leaves them without the knowledge they need to make informed, responsible decisions, so they are getting caught up in sexual situations that could have serious implications in their lives."
Now the NSPCC, who administrate the confidential freephone 24-hour ChildLine service, are calling for sex education to be a compulsory part of the school curriculum, delivered by specially trained staff. Local authorities and head-teachers can set their own sex education policies. Most children do not learn about sex until primary six or seven, when they are ten or eleven years old. On the contrary, experts warn that sex education should start at a much earlier stage, and the parents’ role is necessary.
The underprovided communication on the subject of sex between teenagers and their parents could be one of the factors due to teenage pregnancy. Some teens try to solve their problems in such strange ways. In particular, they might try and act like an adult, and want independence, and as a result, they feel the need to have a baby, thinking that it will prove that they are “grown up”. Some people may believe that the parents should have been keeping an eye out for their teen. Sure they can do this, but there is so much a parent can do. "Don't have sex!" and "wear a condom" could be the only phrases many parents offer their teens as a means of caution towards avoiding teen pregnancy. However, the more sincere and sensitive a parent is to their teen, it will be easier for them have a close and open relationship, thus being comfortable enough to talk about sex. Yet not enough parents have a close enough relationship for them to be able to be open to talk about sex. Heather Brandon from an online discussion about teenage pregnancies, portrays this to the readers:
“The more open and receptive a parent is to their teen the easier it will be for them to come and talk about personal problems, (many young girls would rather ask their mothers personal questions rather than ask their friends as do teen boys) but if the parent teen relationship is not close, the teen will feel very uncomfortable and ashamed to approach the parent.”
Many parents might believe that if they do not talk about sex, teenage pregnancy will not happen, and other parents may not even bring up the subject of pre marital sex, because it is taboo to their culture or religion. Both of these approaches are not the best way to tackle the prevention of teen pregnancy. Whether a child is raised strictly, religiously, or not, they will eventually become curious with sex, as this is human nature and it should not be suppressed, by parents in fact, when sexuality or sexual feelings are suppressed it too can cause rebellion which leads to defiant behaviour which could then lead to teen pregnancy.
The media has become one of the main sex educators, and influences of pregnancies within teens today. Television shows, movies, music, magazines, etc. often choose unplanned pregnancies as a plotline. Television shows are becoming increasingly more scandalous and racy than they had been in previous years, leading some to believe that sex in television is the cause of the “pregnancy pact” phenomenon among teenage girls. It seems that the media and Hollywood have glamorized pregnancy so much that for some reason, misguided girls find it more acceptable. Movies like Juno and Knocked Up are not setting a particular virtuous example to our younger society, however are portraying teenage pregnancy from several angles. Also glamorization of celebrities who are pregnant, yet have no notion of who the father might be. Jane Brown, a journalism professor, describes in her report:
"This is unusual and rare that we would have movies like Juno or Knocked Up, or that we would now be glamorizing celebrities who are pregnant and we don't even know who the fathers are. For girls, looking to see who's got a baby bump is really compelling somehow."
While mass media is definitely pushing its boundaries and has caused young girls as well as grown women to take up extremist behaviour. While it is definitely okay and right to point fingers, people are only pointing fingers at mass media and do not believe that anything else can cause such an extreme outcome. Education is the most powerful resource anyone can have and it’s the only thing no one can take away from you. The same applies for the subject of sex, especially when you’re talking about teenagers. Every person deserves the education they need to go out in the world and make something of themselves and of their lives. Sex in television cannot be the scapegoat on which to blame teen pregnancy. It is undeniable that media plays an important role in the lives of the youth and does have the power to impact the views of teens, but teens themselves must take the responsibility in the choices they make that lead to pregnancy.
Many people may perhaps feel that the responsibility lies within the teenagers themselves. Of course, the adolescents are having the unprotected sex, and so, chances are a baby could be conceived. Teenagers nowadays might feel the need to be “grown up” due to many factors such as peer pressure. Peer pressure appears to be one of the main causes of underage sex within the younger generation. Some teenagers decide to have sexual relationships because their friends think sex is cool. Others feel pressured by the person they are dating. Still, others find it easier to give in and have sex than to try to explain why not. Binge drinking, smoking, taking drugs and underage sexual activity are becoming alarmingly widespread in today's adolescents mainly because of this desire to be accepted. And so, it only seems fair to set the blame on the teenager for being utterly “careless”. However, many young teenage girls might see themselves as have nothing to endeavour for, things just seem out of reach. Cornell University researcher Andrea Parrot illustrates:
"Too many teenage girls see themselves as having nothing to strive for -- they can't see graduating from high school because they have few role models to follow, their teachers give them little encouragement about their abilities, their families are chaotic and their friends are on drugs. Parenting looks like the best thing going, many girls think, because babies provide an immediate source of unconditional love."
Researchers now know that certain factors predispose girls to choose early motherhood over other goals. These include poverty, school failure, a mother or sister who was a teen mother and living in a dangerous neighbourhood. On the other hand, boys typically have different reasons than girls for engaging in sexual activity. Boys are more hormonally driven whilst girls are typically more emotionally driven at this age. Until we can fully acknowledge and understand the reasons why teen boys and girls engage in sexual activity, the resolution of the problem will be somewhat problematical.
To summarise, children having children seems to be a commonplace. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. However, people might believe teenage mothers are not mature enough to look after a baby. For many, the "just say no" approach prevents teenage pregnancy the way "Have a nice day" cures chronic depression. Maybe society should be giving teenagers something to aspire to, that they would not risk by getting pregnant. New techniques are being tried, such as schemes in places where young mothers give talks in high schools about their experiences. To me, this is perhaps a rather intellectual way to go. Nevertheless it is important to ensure that teenage boys are equally involved in these initiatives. Many people are calling for benefits to be reduced, although it must be remembered that every baby deserves a decent start in life, regardless of how it is conceived.
