What is Teenage Pregnancy? Sex Education is Important
Keywords: Teenage pregnancy, girls, awareness, sex education, education, psychology
Author: Tanishka Ranjan
Teenage is a crucial growth phase in the life of any individual fraught with physiological changes and often, psychological conflicts. Teenagers belong to the age group of thirteen to twenty.
As sexual development sets in, teenagers are hounded by curiosity to explore their bodies. Due to a lack of awareness regarding sex, they often engage in unsafe sex, eventually becoming teenage parents. Mostly such pregnancies are unplanned, and minors are not ready to bear the responsibilities of being a parent. Globally, the rate of teenage pregnancy is relatively high. Mostly teenagers from lower backgrounds with little or no sex education end up with teenage pregnancies. Teenage pregnancy is a widely prevalent social evil.
INTRODUCTION
Teenage pregnancy is defined as females between the ages of 13-15 who engage in sexual activity and become pregnant either intentionally or unintentionally. Teenage mothers generally do not have the resources to care for a child. As well as they are not able to sustain healthy habits throughout pregnancy to ensure they produce a healthy baby. These young females often do not complete their education and they begin a perpetual cycle in which their children may further go on to become teenage parents as well.
Teenage pregnancy may be linked to things such as lack of education and information about reproduction, peer pressure and early engagement in sexual activity. Although some teenage pregnancies are intentional, the majority of them are unintentional and lead to many negative outcomes for the teenage mother, the child as well as other family and peers.
CAUSES OF TEENAGE PREGNANCY
1. Drugs and Alcohol
Drinking excessively as well as experimenting with drugs may lead to unwanted and unintentional pregnancy. These substances greatly affect a teen’s ability to logically think and carry out general thinking processes. This increases the chances of engaging in unprotected and unsafe sexual activity.
2. Low Socio-Economic Condition
Teens who become pregnant often come from families of low socio-economic status. These children grow up to have low educational goals and successes because of the lack of involvement from their parents. With the lack of education and knowledge about reproduction, these teens engage in unprotected and unsafe sexual activity. These teens simply engage in intercourse at very young ages and may have multiple partners which further leads to increased chances of pregnancy.
3. Peer Pressure and Sexual Abuse
Peer pressure is another major cause of sexual abuse, often females may be pressured or forced by an older male partner to engage in sexual activity. These young females out of fear may feel forced to engage in unprotected sex without a choice.
4. Media Influence
The media has a large effect on teen pregnancy. The media often glamorizes pregnancy and hides the true hardships associated with pregnancy which encourages these teens to become pregnant. Some teenage females become pregnant just to drop out of high school or to force their partners into a deeper commitment. Rebellion is also another reason why some teens become pregnant.
CONSEQUENCES OF TEENAGE PREGNANCY
1. Illiteracy
Teenagers getting pregnant at an early age cannot pursue their higher education due to extra responsibility, which increases the rate of literacy in society. The education of the teen mother remains on hold during pregnancy, and some teens even decide to drop out of their high school and find a job to supplement themselves.
2. Loss of Government Revenue
In most developing nations, governments plan welfare schemes to take adequate care of teen mothers and their dependent children. As the low-qualified mother cannot get a good job, she completely depends on such welfare schemes to overcome the impending financial distress.
3. Social Obligations
A teenage mother has to face several social obligations like not getting a good job, and not getting respect from friends and family members. The entire social life of the teen mother gets ruined due to her early and unexpected pregnancy, and she has to spend her life in emotional trauma.
4. Lack Of Financial Support
A teen mother who does not get proper financial support from her parents or friends has to face a severe financial crunch. She has to face extreme difficulty to buy basic items for her newborn baby like clothing and baby care products.
5. Increased Risk of Destitution
As fewer teen moms attain proper educational degrees and qualifications, they cannot find suitable and well-paid jobs to improve their financial position.
6. Higher Suicide Rates
Teenage moms are more prone to committing suicide, as the humiliation and embarrassment, and lack of social support can trigger depression. Emotional stress, financial crisis, and societal alienation are some of the main contributing factors that trigger a suicide among teen mothers.
7. Medical Complications
Teenage pregnancy increases the risks of medical complications for both the mother and her baby. A lack of proper prenatal care often induces medical complications like high blood pressure, anaemia, and premature birth of the baby.
SOLUTIONS
- Abstinence: Self-restraint from sexual activity at an early age is the best way to prevent teenage pregnancy.
- Contraceptives: Using contraceptive devices or emergency pills during sexual intercourse helps in preventing teenage pregnancy and early parenthood.
- Communication: Active and positive interaction between child-parent regarding sex education or difficulties may prove beneficial to step down the barriers of early pregnancy.
- Provision of sex education in higher secondary schools along with the consequences:
- Targeting messages at teen boys, not just at the girls.
- Increasing the availability of condoms to teens.
- Encourage mentoring by older teens to younger teens regarding teenage pregnancy and Its consequences.
- Community-Based Programs: Organising community-based programs on teenage pregnancy and adverse effects.
- Sex Education: Schools should provide adolescent-friendly health services along with counselling.
CONCLUSION
Most teens get pregnant due to unprotected sexual intercourse, a lack of maturity and a lack of personal responsibility. A lack of proper sex education, the stigmatisation of sex, and many other societal rules contribute directly or indirectly to teen pregnancy. Teens should speak to their physicians about sex and pregnancy.
Prompt guidance is essential to aid teens in leading a successful life and not being prone to commit mistakes in their impressionable years. Parents must instil the right set of values and morals in their children to help them make appropriate life decisions. Altogether, it is the equal responsibility of the parents and the society to teach and guide teenagers towards the right paths, rather than merely passing negative comments and demotivating them.
“THERE IS A SANCTITY INVOLVED WITH BRINGING A CHILD INTO THIS WORLD, IT IS BETTER THAN BOMBING ONE OUT OF IT”
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