Problems of Vulnerable Populations Essay

Teenagers all over the world are prone to influence and exploitation than any other population. The reason is because their decision making skills and future goals are not yet properly defined. The following paper discusses the problems of early teenage pregnancy and drug abuse. These two problems are observed to affect teenagers everywhere in the world. Significant effects on society are observed as a result of the above problems.

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On a macro level, the problems of drug abuse and early teenage pregnancy have a toll on the economy. The one thing that the problems are observed to carry with them is school dropout. The population of young women abandoning school due to early unplanned pregnancy is vast. A paper by the United Nation puts in that most of the young teenage girls dropping out of school have less than 7 years of education in total (United Nations, 2003). In essence, the high rate of drop outs affects the nation by lowering literacy levels and hence reduction in professional workforce.

In the same way, teenage pregnancy and drug abuse are observed to affect the individual on a micro-individual level as well. Drug abuse without a doubt affects the well-being of the user and for the long term in most cases. Consequently, teenage pregnancy also lowers self-esteem in the young girls that it affects. In essence, the teenagers become isolated from society and fellow youth and in turn have very low quality lives.

As mentioned in the introduction, the youth are the most vulnerable to discrimination and exploitation. Peer influence places teenagers at a discriminatory position where peers influence the major life decisions made which in turn lead to bad irreversible decisions. On the other hand, another factor that makes teenagers vulnerable to the mentioned problems is brain development (Blackmore, 2012). The decision making centers of the brain are not fully developed and hence leads most teenagers to make unexamined decisions in life.

Some solutions have been implemented to help combat the problems that vulnerable youth face. Essentially, the most popular of these solutions are youth mentorship, sex education and youth outreach programs (Blackmore, 2012). The working of any the solution is usually dependent on the resources available and the level of commitment going toward the endeavor. For this reason, the effectiveness of each of the solutions will be evaluated separately. First is the youth mentorship program. Such programs look to equip the teenagers with knowledge about the intricacies of life. Mentorship programs open the minds of the vulnerable population to vast opportunities that the world has to offer. An example is having professionals-especially female professionals, visiting marginalized schools and areas where female school drop outs and teenage pregnancies are rampant. The effectiveness of this solution is that it enables teenagers to be engaged on a personal level and thus make proper informed decisions on their life paths.

Another historical solution suggested to combat teenage pregnancy is sex education. The mandatory sex education classes are meant to equip the youth with knowledge on their reproductive lives. The proper use of condoms, contraceptives and even abstinence are lessons that go a long way into ensuring teenage pregnancies are reduced. The morality of teaching sex education in schools is the main problem affecting the effectiveness of this strategy. The final solution on youth outreach programs is probably the most effective since it employs the strategy of engaging the youth in productive activities like farming and environmental conservation in order to mitigate laziness and general idleness.

Conclusion

The solution I would propose to combat vulnerability in teenagers is to equip children with critical thinking and decision making skills earlier in life. This will ensure that the child grows into the firm foundation of good principles and attainable goals as they grow into adolescence and adulthood. Letting the youth make informed decisions promotes the welfare of everyone both on a macro and micro level.

References

Blakemore, S. J. (2012). Development of the social brain in adolescence. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2012(105), 111-116.

United Nations (2003). World Youth Report: Youth and health issues. Retrieved from: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev//unyin/documents/ch04.pdf