I'm Pregnant

Glenn Son
March 24, 2010
Teen Pregnancy

It seems for the most part that the majority of the public is against teen pregnancy. It also seems when a teen has become pregnant that some of them are going to try and support the pregnant teen. There are some teens out there who would think it’s cool to get pregnant. The American public has been misinformed on the subject of teen pregnancy. They just watch the news and they suddenly become experts on the matter. If the TV or an article in a paper says its bad the majority of the public is gonging to think it’s bad even if it’s not. It doesn’t really seem that they know a lot about teen pregnancy. I am not writing this to change your views, but to give information so that you will be able to better choose a side.
In the U.S., it is generally considered unfavorable for teens to have children. For the most part, teens are viewed as too young to be parents. This scenario has been referred to as “children having children.” Bringing a child into the world is a big responsibility. Many consider teens unprepared and unable to handle the responsibilities that accompany having children. Most people in their teenage years haven’t even completed high school yet. Studies have shown that there are many consequences of teen pregnancy. Babies born to teen parents can experience abuse and neglect. Furthermore, a pregnancy may alter the mother’s health both physically and mentally.
Teens who become parents sometimes do not know what they are in store for. Caring for a baby is very demanding and requires a lot of time and patience. A baby may ideally seem adorable and cute but in reality a child has needs that must be met. A lot of teens are inexperienced when it comes to caring for children, especially infants. The unpreparedness of teenage parents can result in infants being neglected. “Babies born to teenagers are at risk for neglect and abuse because their young mothers are uncertain about their roles and may be frustrated by the constant demands of caretaking,” (Teen Pregnancy, 2010).
A teenage mother who becomes pregnant may also experience problems relating to her physical and mental health. Finding out about a pregnancy as a teenager can be stressful especially if the father is not involved. Pregnant women require special nutrition. They also need to be monitored regularly because of problems that can occur during pregnancy such as high blood pressure and gestational diabetes. Teens who are first time parents do not always know what to do when they discover that they are going to have a baby. They don’t know what proper medical attention to seek and they may be afraid to reveal the pregnancy due to shame or fear of what will happen. “Adolescents who become pregnant may not seek proper medical care during their pregnancy, leading to an increased risk for medical complications,” (Teen Pregnancy, 2010).
Along with physical complications that can occur, teen mothers can also experience emotional and mental difficulties. As previously stated, parenting is a very demanding responsibility. The role of caring for a child can take a toll on an individual. Sometimes the stress of being a teen parent can lead to medical problems. Teen parents can become overwhelmed by guilt and fear of the future. They may feel that their situation is hopeless and may even experience depression. “There may be times when the pregnant teenager's emotional reactions and mental state will require referral to a qualified mental health professional,” (Teen Pregnancy, 2010).
Teen pregnancy is definitely a problem when it occurs. It can cause harm to the children and the parents involved. Teens who are unprepared to become parents may be neglectful to their babies. They may neglect their own personal health and they may experience mental strain as well. Because a teen pregnancy is such a serious situation, it should be treated as such. There are many alternatives to teens raising children. Adoption is one example of an alternative. Whatever teen parents choose for themselves and their babies, most importantly, they need support to avoid the complications that may occur.
References:
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology. “When Children Have Children.” Teen Pregnancy. Retrieved March 24, 2010 from: http://www.teenpregnancy.com/teenage/when-children-have-children.html
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Shavonna Arnell
4-29-10
Teen Pregnancy
When I see a young person pregnant what goes through my mind? Do I think or say that she is fast, hot momma, too grown or do I say that her parent might not have raised her right? If a girl is between the ages of 12-17 they are too young to be having a kid when they are just starting their lives. In the United States one in three teen girls is estimated to get pregnant at least once before age 20(4parents.gov). Teenager does not understand how expensive it is, how their parent is struggling, how the father of the child is going to react. Being pregnant is not a trend nor is it cute. Sometimes parents tend to be a little generous toward their children these days. If parents had enough control of their children than they would not be in the position they are in now. Parent should be more aware of their children and what they are doing.
Teen pregnancy is very expensive. To raise a child it cost 13,000 a year just to provide for a child. Pregnant Teens have to think about how they are going to take care of this child that they are caring inside of them. Majority of the time young pregnant teens are not going to be taking care of the child. The parents always seem to have to take care of their child and the baby. That sounds like a lot of hard work on the parents. Being pregnant comes with responsibility in order to take care of a child have to have a job. When having a job you are able to get what the baby needs such as diapers, car seats, bathing material all a baby needs. When having a child they are considered to act mature and responsible. Young teens should begin to save up for their child’s education and prepare them for the future. Taking care of a child pushes all the things they had planned for back. Teen mothers going to college while having a child is hard, most pregnant teen do not even go to college, until years later. All the plans that the mother had are gone or pushed to the side. They now have a responsibility to take care of.
The MTV show “Am Sixteen and Pregnant” is not supporting teen pregnancy but is showing how it will be if you are that age and do end up in that predicament. It is warning you that being pregnant is not a game. It takes a lot of patience, time, and strength to have the responsibility of having a child. This show is giving a visual concept of what they would have to go through to raise a child. This show is not on air to promote pregnancy, but to show teens this is not how you want to be in your youth years. It shows the emotions and physical stresses the teenager goes through to keep this child. They have to strive to get the baby clothing, and baby formula. They have to drop out of school, lose friends, and stop doing what they love to do as a teenager. Think twice about having children.
The show “Secret life of an American Teenager” shows how a pregnant teenager lives, how hard and frustrating it is to have a baby. This show is getting a little over rated it is not the same. It seems like almost everyone in the show is getting pregnant. That it is suppose to be on air to protect teenager from getting pregnant, but this show is promoting pregnancy. The show is doing too much almost every season a person is pregnant. The show is not focused on Amy (the girl that was pregnant) anymore. It is more like a soap opera, a gossip show. It is all about who is having sex whom, cheating with whom. This show is not showing teen the real life of a teen that is pregnant. MTV show “Sixteen and Pregnant” is more realistic than “The Secret Life”. Sixteen and Pregnant gets teen attention and can relate to a person who is actually pregnant.
In the show both the shows the parents are doing all the work taking care of the pregnant teen’s child. In reality the parent are the ones who are doing the most work in the pregnant teen’s home. Parent should be more aware of their children and what they are doing. Without the parents teenagers are clueless. The parents are teaching their children how to take care of their own child. They are spending money on their child and their children child. The parent is like the pillow for the pregnant teen. They have to be their when they are going through rough times, problems with the men, when they are scared, in labor. They are the backbone for the pregnant teenager. The parents do not have to do what they are doing to help the teenagers that are pregnant. In the end they need their parents and depend on them.
The father of the child goes through stress also and it can be difficult for them too. They have to change just like the pregnant teen does. They have to be there to support the child, half of the fathers do not go far in school, making less money, and it is strain their relationships with their girlfriend. The men who don’t want to support their child still have to go through the drama of child support, and dislike of the baby mama, and her parents.
In conclusion it is too expensive to be pregnant. Television shows are not always reliable and are untrue, parents struggle and fathers are leaving. Teen pregnancy is not good for young children. Encourage teen to stay pure until they are married. If they are having sex lets wrap it up and use protection. So we can decrease the pregnancy / STDs rate in America. Teenagers can enjoy their life as teens not as mothers or fathers. Teen pregnancy is no game it is very real.
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Nicole Barrett
April 4, 2010
English 100 Jane Fife
How many teen girls have you heard of getting pregnant? At my school there were three girls in my grade that became pregnant during the year and three more of them that got pregnant after graduation. The pregnancy rate has gone up three percent since 2006, after it declined forty-one percent between 1991 and 2005. In today’s society teen pregnancy is more accepted not only in minorities but also in Caucasian families as well. Most people think that teen pregnancy is a bigger issue in the lower class and minorities, but it has become an issue in white families as well. The media also accepts the idea and is now promoting it with shows such as ‘16 and Pregnant’ on MTV and ‘The Secret Life of an American Teenager’ on ABC Family. Schools are also accepting and encouraging teen pregnancy.
Teen pregnancy is accepted in Caucasian families just as much as it is in Hispanic and African American families; a lot of people think that teen pregnancy is really high in only minority households. I asked my mom what she thought on the subject of teen pregnancy in Caucasian and minority households. Her response was its more excepted in minorities than in white families. For many years this has been normal stereotype. An article on teen pregnancy from EBSCO host states “The researchers say the increase from 2005 to 2006 occurred among all demographic groups, including African-Americans, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites,” (Viadero). This article shows that all ethnicities are having an increase in teen pregnancies. Not only are the pregnancies increasing but the families are accepting that fact that their teen is pregnant and supporting them emotionally and financially.
The media has influenced teen’s idea on pregnancy. The TV show ‘16 and Pregnant’ has shown girls what it is like to become pregnant and what life is like while having a child. The show ‘The Secret Life of an American Teenager’ is another show that portrays teen pregnancy as an easy, not stressful gift. The shows do not show the after effects on these teen mothers. They do not show if they received their high school diploma or continued on to college. Also whether or not the father supports the mother of the child is not show n. These shows make having a baby at the age of sixteen seem pleasant and leaves out the lifelong effects on these young mothers.
Schools are helping students who become pregnant finish school. It is giving young girls the idea that graduating and having a baby is easy. Teens that became pregnant used to have to enroll in special schools and now they have school programs that help get the student caught up unless they of course choose the home school route. Even though they have made this option for young mothers, they are still having a tough time graduating high school because it is still so difficult. “Based on an analysis of national survey data, it found that only half of young women who became mothers as teenagers went on to receive a high school diploma by age 22. In comparison, 89 percent of non-mothers had earned a diploma by that age.”(Viadero) Now a day you need a diploma to get a job but if you are going to support a family you also need a college degree. Most teen mothers cannot get their high school diploma let alone a college degree.
Teen pregnancy is very prevalent in today’s society. There are websites to help prevent teen pregnancy and others to aid teen parents. There are many options to consider when you have a baby at any age and all of them should be explored. Many people do not understand the responsibility that comes with having a baby both financially and emotionally. Having a child is a big commitment and you have to be ready for it. For help you can go to http://www.thenationalcampaign.org.

Viadero,Debra. "Study Finds Teen Pregnancies on the Rise." Study Finds Teen Pregnancies on the Rise 20.29 (2010): 1. EBSCO Host. Web. 4 Apr. 2010.
<http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=48135020&site=ehost-live>
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Julia K. Weis
3/29/10
Dr. Jane Fife
Oh, Baby!
The general American public has a negative view on teen pregnancy, although having a baby as a teenager isn’t as taboo as it was at one time. In fact, teenage pregnancy has become rather commonplace. This is the problem. At one point in time, teenage pregnancy happened, but it was not discussed. The girl would be “sent away” while she was pregnant. This is not the case now. You see pregnant teenagers everywhere you turn and every time you turn on the news. And what do you see on almost every channel you flip through? The act that premeditated the pregnancy: sex. Sex is too big a part of media’s entertainment factor today. The media is where the heart of the problem lies.
The teen pregnancy rate is currently on the rise after it had been decreasing for quite a while. According to The New York Times, “the pregnancy rate among girls ages 15-19 increased 3 percent from 2005-2006—a turnaround likely to intensify the debate over federal financing for abstinence-only sex education.” (Lewin) Many schools today only teach abstinence as sex education, not about taking the proper precautions when you have sex, such as birth control pills or condoms. Abstinence just isn’t realistic for teens anymore, and adults need to realize this. Previous leaders of our country focused on “abstinence-only programs”. (Lewin) The New York Times states that “the Obama administration has moved away from abstinence-only programs, creating a new teenage-pregnancy initiative in which most financing will go to programs that have been shown to prevent pregnancy, with some experimental approaches.” (Lewin) I believe that this will have a very positive impact on the statistics.
Even with the many programs that are out there to help prevent teen pregnancy and help teenage girls once they become pregnant, the problem still remains that sex is a big part of the media. Girls are being exposed to sexual innuendos and such at earlier and earlier ages now. If you actually look at the lyrics to a lot of the Top 40 songs, you will notice that the vast majority are sexual or making sexual references. Two prime examples of this would be the song “I Invented Sex” by Trey Sonz. Just the title of the song says it all. Lil’ Wayne has a song out right now that is currently #25, according to iTunes. The song is titled “Bedrock” with the chorus being: “Oh baby I be stuck to you like glue/Baby wanna spend it all on you/Baby, my room is the G spot, call me Mr. Flinstone/I can make your bedrock.” (MetroLyrics) Our generation has managed to turn a harmless cartoon into a sex song.
Many popular television shows are also focusing on teen pregnancy. The ABC Family show “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” is about an innocent girl who had sex for the first time at band camp with the drummer, AKA, the bad boy. She gets pregnant, surprise surprise, and falls in love with the good guy, who supports her. First of all, the show gives an unrealistic representation of what life is like for a pregnant teenager, and then a teen mom. The series also makes the main focus sex in many of the episodes, with one of the characters being a sex addict. Very motivational, right? The musical comedy series “GLEE” has the good girl character pregnant as well. She’s a cheerleader and her boyfriend is captain of the football team. It seems to me they’re trying to make having a baby a fairytale. Even if you’re an adult and married, it’s still not a fairytale. I love my nephew dearly, but after seeing what my sister and her husband have gone through, I have had no desire to have children for a very long time. It’s the best birth control ever. Anyone who thinks that having a baby as a teenager is “cool” needs a serious dose of reality. The reality comes when the stick turns pink.

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Sarah Blair
Eng 100
Teen Pregnancy

My goals in life are too: get good grades, have endless nights with my friends, live life to the fullest before the “real” life hits me, and graduate college as soon as I can with my nursing degree. Now, if I were too have gotten pregnant or get pregnant in the next years, this would possibly not happen because I would have a crying, peeing, pooping machine that would need my attention 24/7. Now a days you will find shows like “Secret Life of an American Teenager”, “Teen Mom”, and “16 & Pregnant” that are just exposing pregnancy to teens everywhere. You also have movies such as “The Pregnancy Pact”, “Juno”, “Mom at Sixteen”, and many more movies that are produced that show teens getting pregnant, but in most of these movies they have that fairy tale ending. Even though the number of girls getting pregnant is better than what it was a decade ago, it’s still something that shouldn’t be rising in the U.S.
Like I have said before teens are exposed to too many shows that teen pregnancy is in it. “Secret Life of an American Teenager” is a show of a girl who gets pregnant by just having sex one time, but, when you watch the show you will see that her parents are supportive and all of her friends and even the dad wants to be involved with the child’s life. Now, think about this, does this happen to every teen that gets pregnant? No. “Teen Mom” and “16 & Pregnant” are the reality shows that show everyone what can really happen to a pregnant teenager. While watching these shows you see what actually happens, like the father wanting to leave the girl, or the parents not being supportive and kicking them out of the house, or even how hard it is to stay in school and get a job while raising a child. Have you ever wondered how twisted it is that they become famous because they got pregnant? All the glory because they made a mistake. To me, this does not seem right. I may have never had a family member or close friend get pregnant as a teen, but I have seen girls in my high school I went to and heard there stories and could never imagine being able to raise a kid at my age.
The movies that you see like “Juno” and “Mom at Sixteen” are just fictional movies that have the perfect ending where everything works out perfect for the whole family. Yet, the movie like “The Pregnancy Pact” is a movie based on a true story. It happened at Gloucester High School, a high school in Gloucester, Massachusetts. It’s about 18 girls who made a pact to get pregnant all at the same. I have never seen the movie and do not know the reasoning on why they made this pact but this still is a similarity to the reality shows, because it shows that other girls actually did it and how much attention they got.
Some girls get pregnant on accident, to get attention, or to try to trap the boyfriend. Although, in the long run we all know that it is not the life that they hoped for. There are a lot of websites on the internet that talks about teen pregnancy and how it just keeps rising and rising each year, especially since 2006. After looking through all the websites and seeing all the statistics and what you can do for help, I finally found one website the made since: dosomething.org. It talks about what you can do to prevent this outburst of teen pregnancy, and the best thing I found that you can do is to teach. Teach and talk about it to all the teens over the U.S. That’s all we can do for anything these days, is to just teach them. We have to teach them about the consequences of having sex and we can preach to them about condoms and pills and so forth. We all know that now a days a lot of teens have sex, so teaching abstinence to them may work, but then again halfway pointless. That’s why I am preaching to you, that we need to teach the teens how having unsafe sex can change your life in a split second.

"Do Something". DoSomething. 4/5/10 http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-teen-pregnancy
"Pregnant Teen Help". Teen Pregnancy Statistics, Prevention and Facts. 4/5/10 <http://www.pregnantteenhelp.org/>., Copyright 2005

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Dymphna Nuestro
English 100
Teen Pregnancy in the US
Was it worth it? The modern portrayal of teen mothers by the media is not the tabooed image of a young girl who has to deal with a situation that has changed her entire life, but of a young woman who has an extra problem to deal with, but who does not suffer many changes in her family, social, or academic life. Rather than for television shows such as ‘The Secret Life of an American Teenager’ and ’16 and Pregnant’ to show the negative effects of having a child at a young age, these shows tend to glamorize, and/or gloss over what was once a topic that led to a negative stigma for the teenager who adds the position of mother to her identity. Society no longer turns away at the mention of teen pregnancy, but instead watches intently, compelled, fascinated, and in the eyes of the young girls watching these shows, curious of what being a teen mother would be like, with no realistic set of expectations to deter them from finding out for themselves. With a lack of sufficient sex education in schools systems added to the trend in the media to make teen mothers creatures of intrigue rather than beasts of burden, the rate of teen pregnancies has increased, because there are not enough sources telling teens that being a teen mother does not mean you will get your fifteen minutes of fame, it means you get the responsibilities of taking care of another life, for the rest of yours.
The incline in the rates of teenage girls becoming pregnant can be attributed to the influence of the media on impressionable youths. In an article featured in 'Time' magazine titled "Sex on TV Increases Teen Pregnancy, Says Report," a study conducted by Rand Corporation "interviewed 1,461 teens ages 12 to 17 by phone, speaking to them three times between the 2001 and '04. While previous studies exploring the effect of TV content on teen pregnancy relied on onetime snapshots of adolescents' behavior, Chandra believes the continuity of her study reinforces the strength of the relationship she found between pregnancy and exposure to sexual content on television" (Park). Teens who watch televisions shows depicting teen mothers are not given a full sense of reality, as the mothers are not shown to be victims of their fate, and go on with their lives as though nothing has changed. Some of the mothers of the girls on shows such as '16 and Pregnant' take on the responsibilities of raising the baby, while their daughters go out to hang out with friends or to party, with no change in their lifestyle from before the baby was born. Not all teens who become pregnant will be fortunate enough to have their parents be as involved with raising the baby. Some teens may even be disowned by their parents for religious or moral reasons, and left to raise the baby without support from parents and sometimes, not even the young father who finds himself bound for life by a moment of inconsequential fun. Being a mother is a title that, once acquired, will be carried throughout life, and teens need to be made aware that teen pregnancy is life-altering, and that it is better for it to be prevented than to have to deal with the aftermath nine months later.
To combat rising rates in teen pregnancy, proper use of contraceptives should be implemented in school systems, as well as by parents. The amount of sex depicted in the media is not going to change:
...it's neither likely nor realistic to expect the television and movie industries to curb the amount of sexual content in their products. That's why the American Academy of Pediatrics created the Media Matters campaign more than a decade ago to promote awareness within the industry of how influential its TV shows and movies are to youngsters and to alert parents to the critical role they play in monitoring and mediating what their children watch (Park).
Although it is important for parents to monitor what types of shows their children are watching, it is unrealistic to expect to be able to shelter children and teenagers from all exposure to sex. Even if a teen receives limited to no exposure to sexual material directly, through the television or the internet, they may still be influenced by a more enlightened friend. In the setting of a high school, sex among students is prevalent, and a very real issue, "The fact that teenagers have sex is well established: Roughly half of all 15- to 19-year-olds have had vaginal intercourse, and more than half have had oral sex, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention" (Bahrampour, Shapira) says a study done in 2005, before the incline in teen pregnancy rates by three percent, "34% drop in births among women ages 15-19 from 1991 to 2005. In 2006, the teen birth rate increased 3%, to 41.9 births per 1,000 women ages 15-19" (USA Today); what more now that pregnancy rates are on the rise? Rather than to believe a teenager can be kept away from sex "until they are ready," it is better if a teenager is prepared in the event that they are in a situation where they could engage in sexual intercourse.
By keeping teens informed of the consequences of unprotected sex, and treating the subject of sexual activity between teens with maturity rather than delicacy, rates of teen pregnancy will once again decline. Although the amount of sex in the media is not something that the public can control, the preparedness of teens who have to make educated decisions for themselves can be upped if awareness of the potential problem of teen pregnancy is spread; it is crucial that while the rates are rising, but still low, that the problem is addressed, so that it can be deal with before it worsens. For teenagers to be educated about sexuality is fundamental:
Comprehensive school-based sexuality education has been defined as a programme of biological and reproductive knowledge, identity and self-esteem enhancement, rational, moral and ethical value development, communication, negotiation and decision-making skills, and interpersonal and socio-cultural understandings promoting responsible citizenship within a participative, democratic and equitable society (Goldman).
Sexual activity, specifically in high schools, is prevalent, and it is better to accept that it is going on, and to combat it with proper education, as well as distribution of contraceptives such as condoms, and for girls who are sexually active to be encouraged to talk to their doctors about birth control pills, for more effective prevention methods . There are campaigns aimed at preventing teen pregnancies, such as 'The National' and while the existence of a campaign is a start, awareness must be spread in order to start a movement. If teen pregnancy rates are to once again decrease, then the proper measures must be taken to ensure that teens who have sex do not do so without knowing the true responsibilities of parenthood early in life. Sex education in school systems must be thorough and well-distributed, and parents too must also take part in educating their children about more than just the "birds and the bees," but of what could happen if their children have children. Just as teens cannot turn a blind eye to their televisions, magazines, and peers, American society cannot turn a blind eye to this potential problem that is trying to take root in the value system of the general public.
Writer's Memo:
I used the sources of an articled titled "Teen birth rates up in 26 states" from the 'USA Today' website, an article on the 'Time' magazine website titled "Sex on TV Increases Teen Pregnancy, Says Report," an online article titled "Sexuality education for young people: a theoretically integrated approach from Australia" from informaworld.com, and an article titled "Sex at School Increasing, Some Educators Say" from 'The Washington Post.' I directly quoted from these sources, and placed quotes around the excerpts and indented for quotes that were more than three lines long. I didn't use a lot of paraphrasing, and mostly paraphrased in order to set a quote up, or to use as a transition.

Works Cited:
Bahrampour, Tara and Shapira, Ian. "Sex at School Increasing, Some Educators Say." The Washington Post. 2 April 2010.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/05/AR2005110501414.html>
Goldman, Juliette. "Sexuality education for young people: a theoretically integrated approach from Australia." Informaworld. 2 April 2010.
<http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section?content=a919007113&fulltext=713240928>
Jayson, Sharon. "Teen birth rates up in 26 states - USATODAY.com." News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2010. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-01-07-teenbirths_N.htm>.
Park, Alice. "Sex on TV Increases Teen Pregnancy, Says Report." Time. 2 April 2010. <http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1855842,00.html>