Teen Pregnancy: Still a
Problem
Dorothy L. Tengler
The teen
pregnancy rate has been declining for the past six years, hitting
the lowest it�s been in decades. According to an Alan Guttmacher
Institute report, teen pregnancies have declined from 1992 to 1996
in every state but New Jersey. The largest decline since 1991 by
race was for black women (26% between 1991 and 1998). However, the
rate for Hispanics and blacks remain higher than for other groups.
The overall decrease in teen pregnancies may be due to a
corresponding decrease in teen-age sexual activity, improved
contraceptive practices, and more effective sex education. However,
there are still nearly one million teenage pregnancies in the United
States every year�more than twice that in England and Canada and 10
times that of Japan. That means that 4 in 10 young women become
pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20�far too many
far too young.
Adolescent parenthood�kids having kids�has always been a concern
among adults, perhaps because many adults were teen parents
themselves and understand the devastating effects on families. It is
likely that children born to teenage girls will
- experience more health problems as infants due to a lower
birth weight
- suffer abuse or neglect
- become teenage moms themselves
- perform poorly in school or drop out of high school
- tend toward criminal behavior
- land in foster homes
Why are so many young girls getting pregnant? Surprisingly,
according to one study, nearly four in ten girls who had first
intercourse at 13 or 14 said it was non-voluntary or unwanted. It
may be pressure. Three of four girls and over half of boys report
that girls who have sex do so because their boyfriends want them to.
Others claim that teen pregnancy reflects today�s advertising,
glorifying sexuality, and is closely related to the decline of the
family unit.
More importantly, what can be done? It may be that teenagers who
have strong emotional attachments to their parents are much less
likely to become sexually active at an early age. Furthermore, teens
who have been raised by both parents from birth have a lower
probability of having sex than teens who grow up in other family
situations. It is imperative that adults continue to stress that
teens are too young for pregnancy and childbearing, which should be
reserved for adulthood. But if teens insist on being sexually
active, almost 60 percent of adults think that they should at least
have access to contraception.
And then there are the teens themselves. It may be that teens
talking to other teens about the pitfalls of adolescent pregnancy
could deliver the most dramatic impact of all. Imagine the power of
one 16 year old telling another 16 year old, "Sex won�t make him
yours, and a baby won�t make him stay."
References:
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (1997). Whatever
Happened to Childhood? The Problem of Teen Pregnancy in the United
States. Washington, DC: Author.
Analysis of Henshaw, S.K., U.S. Teenage Pregnancy
Statistics. New York: Alan Guttmacher Institute, May 1996; and
Forest, J.D., Proportion of U.S. Women Ever Pregnant Before
Age 20, New York: Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1986,
unpublished.
Moore, K.A., & Driscoll, A. (1997). Partners, Predators,
Peers, Protectors: Males and Teen Pregnancy. In Not Just for
Girls: The Roles of Boys and Men in Teen Pregnancy (pp.-10).
Washington, DC. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
EDK Associates for Seventeen magazine and the Ms. Foundation for
Women. (1996). Teenagers Under Pressure.
Blum, R.W., & Rinehart, P.M. (1997). Reducing the
Risk: Connection That Make a Difference in the Lives
of Youth. l Minneapolis, MN: Division of General Pediatrics and
Adolescent Health, University of Minnesota.
Alan Guttmacher Institute. (1994). Sex and America�s
Teenagers. New York and Washington, DC: Author.