Causes and Effects of Teenage Pregnancy Essay

In the present time's teenage pregnancy has become one of the leading concern throughout the world especially in the developed and also the developing countries; thus, it is crucial to look into the causes and effects to handle it carefully and bring down the rising figures among the teens. Lack of communication between parents and teens leads to lack of awareness of the causes and effects of teenage pregnancy since nor the parent or the teachers talk to the teens to enlighten them on the issues (Boucher 62). As young mothers, these teenagers are prone to many challenges of motherhood if they lack people to advise them or guide them on how to handle and take good care of their babies. Hence the baby's growth and development becomes slower.

Although lack of sex education is known to be the leading cause of teenage pregnancy, there are more reasons to this which many people ignore and emphasis on sex education. Here are more causes that may lead to teenage pregnancy; lack of affection and attention from the family, as teens transit from childhood to adolescent stage they experience emotional, physical and psychological changes. In this stage, if not handled with care by their families or teachers, teenagers may be depressed; hence, end up looking for the support and love from other people mostly the opposite sex. Poverty is also known as a leading cause of early pregnancies among the teens (Cherry and Dillon 79). If the parents are not able to provide teenagers with their needs, they may try out other ways to acquire money for their needs, in most cases, they land themselves in the hands of selfish men willing to offer them money in exchange of sex. Hence, they end up getting pregnant since they lack knowledge regarding protective sex and do not know how to prevent themselves from getting pregnant.

Additionally, some teenagers involve themselves in drug and substance abuse. Engaging in the vice in the company of opposite sex members with no restriction of interaction may arouse the sparks and sex urge; thus, the teens are involved in irresponsible sex, which may lead to pregnancy. Media also has in a way contributed to teenage pregnancies due to evident topics on sex both on the internet and on other news platforms and most of them lack age control allowing anyone can view the content. Most teens consider only sex-related material, they mostly do it in the company of their peers, some of the content is so pornographic, and as they watch they become sexually excited, and end up engaging in sexual intercourse, which increases the chances of pregnancy.

Since almost all the teenage pregnancies are unwanted, this makes them have many adverse effects on the teenagers, their parents, and even the society. The influences range from financial, physical, health, emotional, and social. These impacts include rejection by the community. Teenage sex is always considered as a norm in the society. Since adolescent pregnancy is a result of fornication, girls face dismissal from the community and are treated as outcasts. Higher rates of suicide are also evident as a result of teenage pregnancy in both parents and the teens. As the community continues to stigmatize the victims and judge their parents of lousy parenting, the situation becomes too much to bear, most of them consider eliminating their lives as the only option left because they cannot endure the embarrassment and rejection from the society.

Similarly, after getting pregnant, these girls often undergo extensive emotional and mental torture since they lack support from the families and the society. The teenagers suffer from psychological, nervous breakdown, and depression, which may lead them to evil thoughts such as suicide or drug and substance abuse. Consequently, when they abuse drugs and substances in combination with their mental state of depression, this may affect their health and that of their baby. Some girls suffer from other medical complications, which risk their lives and unborn babies life since they lack proper prenatal care. Some of the teenagers opt for abortion; this should never be an option because the girl is risking her life trying to eliminate the unborn baby. Teenage pregnancy increases the level of illiteracy, once the girl is pregnant, she has to drop out of school and fails to progress her education.

Further teenager mothers experience financial constraints since many lack financial support, and if they are provided, it is never enough to cater for their own needs and those of the newborns. They face extreme difficulties since they do not have a formal job to depend on and with their education level, they cannot afford themselves a sustaining job. They also cost the government in revenue since in some developed countries the government has welfare schemes to take care of the teen mothers and their babies so that can they can provide basic needs to these newborns. Moreover, these teen mothers are not obliged to pay taxes thus the government loses more because they depend on its support.

Conclusion

In conclusion, teenage pregnancies are unwelcomed since no woman or girl would like to experience motherhood without the proper financial, psychological, emotional, and physical readiness it demands. However, some girls fall into the trap and in most cases find themselves carrying all the blame and the burden alone. Since the society tends to judge the girl disregarding the fact that a male partner was involved in the pregnancy, as long as the community has this mindset, the girls will always be viewed immoral forgetting the other party involved. It is of much importance for parents to control their teenagers' lives and know their involvement so that they can always communicate and offer them life guidance. It is crucial that sex education is provided to teens so that they can understand the dangers of teen sex and be aware of the consequences.

Works Cited

Boucher, Dan. The Big Society in a Small Country. IWA, 2013. Print

Cherry, Andrew L, and Dillon Mary E. International Handbook of Adolescent Pregnancy [recurso Electronico]: Medical, Psychosocial, and Public Health Responses. , n.d. Internet resource.