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M7 A2 Teen Pregnancy
- 1. Teen Pregnancy:Rise, BirthDefects, and SchoolDovie A. GordonPSY 492/ADVANCED PSYCHOLOGY
- 2. Population of AdolescentsAges 10-19 by Race: 2000(American Psychological Association, p. 5)Race Percent of totalWhite only 70%*Black only 15%Asian/Pacific Islander only 4%American Indian/Alaska Native only 1%Some other race only 7%Two or more races 3%Dovie A. Gordon
- 3. Teen Pregnancy andVariablesYoung men from more disadvantaged neighborhoods were significantly more likely to be non-white, not reside with both parents, have a mother who had a child before age 20 years, and have household income below the poverty line than were those residing in non-disadvantaged neighborhoods (Table 2). (Lindberg, PhD & Orr, PhD, 2011, p. 271)Dovie A. Gordon
- 4. Inadequate DevelopmentDuring theMiddle Adolescent Stage, there is more experimentation with risky behaviors of drug use and unprotected sex.9% of youth reported ever having had sexual intercourse.
- 5. 69% reported useof a condom
- 6. 43% reported morethan one partner
- 7. 8% of adolescentsexperienced oral sex
- 8. 3% had onlyreceived oral sex
- 9. 2% had onlygiven oral sex (De Rosa et al., 2010, p. 200).Dovie A. Gordon
- 10. States and TeenPregnancyIn 1998, the state of south Carolina had the eighth highest rate in the nation of live births to teens aged 15 to 17 years old (National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 2000; Ventura, Curtin, & Mathews, 2000).Dovie A. Gordon
- 11. Parental ResponsibilityParents arechildren’s first teachers at every stage of development. It is the parents responsibility to develop a relationship with their child, pediatrician, teacher, school counselor, social worker, and community programs to gain the knowledge about adolescent development in which they are lacking. Dovie A. Gordon
- 12. Teen FathersWhen itcomes to teen parenting, most of the emphasis are typically focused on the teen mom and not the boy.Dovie A. Gordon
- 13. Community ProgramsArizona Youth& Family Services, Inc.It is a program that not only focuses on crisis situations but also on pregnancy prevention, teaching skills to overcome barriers that are a hindrance to personal growth and health of the family. 55 East Thomas Road, Suite 200Phoenix, AZ 85012Phone: 602-277-4833Fax: 602-277-4820Email: info@azyfs.orgPhoenix Children’s HospitalTeen-to-Tot ProgramA clinic for teen parents and their children which also provides parenting education and personal growth/development.1919 E. Thomas RoadPhone: 602-546-0945M-F 8:30 am – 4:00 pmDovie A. Gordon
- 14. Government FundingTitle Xof the Publix Health Service Act, authorized by the Family Planning Services and Population Research Act of 1970 with providing support to programs that promoted premarital chastity and traditional values (Irvine, 2002)Dovie A. Gordon
- 15. ConclusionIn conclusion, parentsmust take the active roll of by having a positive relationship with their adolescent, increase their knowledge of adolescent development, take part in parenting classes, get involved with their children’s schools, and community programs.Dovie A. Gordon
- 16. ReferencesAmerican Psychological Association.(2002). Population of Adolescents Ages 10-19 by Race: 2000. A reference for Professionals: Developing Adolescents, 1-43. doi: Retrieved from
- 17. De Rosa, C.J., Ethier, K. A., Kim, D. H., Cumberland, W. G., Afifi, A. A., & Kotlerman, J. (2010, September). Sexual Intercourse and Oral Sex Among Public Middle School Students: Prevalence and Correlates. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 42 (3), 197-205. doi: 10.1363/4219710
- 18. Herman, J. W.,& Waterhouse, J. K. (2010, October 14). What Do Adolescents Think About Teen Parenting?. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 33 (4), 577-592. doi: 10.1177/0193945910381761
- 19. Lindberg, L. D.,PhD, & Orr, M., PhD (2011, February). Neighborhood-Level Influences on Young Men’s Sexual and reproductive Health Behaviors. American Journal of Public Health, 101 No. 2(), 271-275. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.185769Retrieved fromDovie A. Gordon
Editor's Notes
- #3 Negotiating sexuality in relationships can be challenging for adolescents. For some, there are significant costs in terms of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Professionals can help adolescents by being open and willing to discuss frankly the interpersonal and health aspects of teens’ developing sexuality. Many sexually active adolescents, even if unwilling to stop being sexually active, may be open to guidance about making decisions about their sexual partners and about changing sexual behaviors that increase risk for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (e.g., multiple sexual partners, failure to use contraceptives and barriers that protect against sexually transmitted diseases) (Rosenthal, Burklow, & Lewis et al., 1997).
- #4 During the Middle Adolescent stage, it is important to keep in mind their struggle for independence, close relationships with peers, and to seek out the meaning of “teen love”. Teen pregnancy is not just an adolescent problem but it is a societal problem. In order to curve the problem, there needs to be a cohesive bond between adolescents, parents, schools, community leaders, community organizations and government programs. The measures taken to reflect the neighborhood included but were not limited to, dimensions including socioeconomic characteristics, norms and opportunity structures, and social disorganization .
- #5 Teens who do not consider teen parenting a difficulty situation may not attempt to engage in safe sexual behaviors. Youth who intend to become pregnant may not have an entirely realistic perception of the challenges and hardships associated with teen childbearing (Herman & Waterhouse, 2010, p. 589). When adolescents began to experience risky behaviors of sex, they do not take into consideration of how many lives and futures can be interrupted with act of becoming pregnant or getting contracting a sexual transmitted disease. Therefore, this student believes that it is important that if sex education is going to be taught in community programs, adolescents and parents should both be required in order for them all to obtain professional knowledge of the imperativeness of protecting the future of their children.
- #6 The study did not include pregnancies from incest, date rape, or developing countries but only from a selected number of states. The proportion of births resulting from unintended pregnancies was obtained from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System and similar state surveys, and the intention status of pregnancies ending in abortion from a national survey of abortion patients. These proportions were applied to birth and abortion counts for each state, and fetal loses were estimated. Rates of unintended pregnancy were obtained by dividing relevant figures by the number of women aged 15-44 in each state. Six states and the District of Columbia had no appropriate survey date, their rates were predicted using multivariate linear regression (Finer & Kost, 2011, p. 78).
- #7 Making no excuse for parents not taking the initiative to research the statistics on children that end up pregnant, infants born with birth defects, end up in the criminal justice system, and/or do not complete their education. There needs to be a stronger emphasis placed on reaching the parents and helping them to understand that getting involved with community programs and to involve their children will strengthen their methods of communication, family relationships, and different perspectives on life and the future generation of their children. It is imperative for parents to understand that it is their responsibility to lay the foundation for their children’s future and to manipulate their environment in order for them to be able to identify positive building blocks for their future and deter them from negative influences.This study used parental investment theory to identify predictors of teen pregnancy rates for Blacks and Whites for 41 U.S. states for which data were available for 1995. Regression models were built that predicted Black teen births, White teen births, and both together using indices of parental investment (unemployment, prison incarceration rates, poverty, marital opportunity for women as indexed by gender ratios) and controlling for economic development )urbanization, infant mortality rates).
- #8 Through repeated qualitative interviews with seven incarcerated teen fathers, this study provides insight into these young fathers’ understanding of their responsibilities toward their children and prospect for future criminal activity. Analysis reveals that these young fathers take their parents roles very seriously and identify their children as the principal motivator for desistance from crime. They also articulate substantial obstacles to achieving their paternal ideals, including financial pressure, strained relationships with their children’s mothers and lack of male role models. Implications for social work practice are provided (Shannon & Abrams, 2007, p. 183).Teen fathers are considered to be a high-risk group based on the number of challenges they face; financial difficulties, education barriers, relationship instability, increased likelihood of involvement in deviant behavior, and lack of developmental maturity (Marsiglio & Cohan, 1997). The period of middle adolescence by itself is a particularly challenging stage of human development, the experience of becoming a father is likely to be much more stressful for adolescents than for older fathers (Kiselica, 1999). In addition, adolescent fathers who have experienced challenging family backgrounds of violence, poverty, and/or substance abuse are at increased risk of continuing patterns of abuse and neglect with their own children and subsequent generations (Wark, Kruczek, & Boley, 2003).
- #10 There is continual revisions being done to allocate funding to community programs to provide support to parents, schools, and community programs that consistently reiterates the importance of education and family involvement when it comes to preventing pregnancies among adolescents. It is the parents responsibility to go out into the community and get to know what programs are available and get involved with self-educating prevention methods for their youths and family as a whole. Adolescents are continuously growing and developing and they are relying upon their parents to guide them onto the right paths that will lead them to a positive and productive future. Additionally, for the adolescents that have already become parents, to have the support from their parents and the programs within the community in order to continue their education and pursue a higher level of education to obtain a life for themselves and their children that will be above the poverty level.
- #11 The stronger the bond there is between a child, the parents, school, and community extra curricular activities the less opportunities the adolescent will have to stray onto the wrong path.