Argumentation Essay

The Causes of High Teen Pregnancy Rate

Introduction

The rising number of teenage pregnancies is becoming a major cause of alarm for many parents. This has led a great majority of people to believe that it is a national problem and a serious cause for concern as it indeed stands as proof of the of the high level of moral decay within the society. The pregnancy among American teenagers is considered the highest ever seen in developed countries (Berglas 20). This rate is also, what has lead to the high number of abortions as well. It is therefore very important that the root cause of this epidemic is established and possibly nipped, before it can cause more harm. There are several other underlying causes for pregnancies at such early ages, aside from the immorality. With the sour consequences that accompany the onset of pregnancy in teenagers, such as being forced to drop-out of school and the work that comes with child rearing, one would expect that this sort of circumstances would be avoided (Nardo 99). Sadly, this is not the case. Instead of the numbers decreasing, the contrary is true. This paper seeks to discuss the factors that have led to the increase in the number of pregnancies among adolescents.

Discussion

After thorough research, several factors have been seen to be the major contributors to teen pregnancies. The first of which is poor education on the matters of safe sex both from guardians and learning institutions. Due to fear and sometimes ignorance on the part of parents and teachers, a majority of teenagers end up not having the necessary knowledge on sex. Many teenagers do not know how to say no to sex, and overcome peer pressure. On the other hand, there are those who wish to take part in sex for mere fun and experimenting. However, in all cases, very few know of how to practice safe sex and use birth control. Sex education is therefore important as it gives adolescents the cognition that ought to have on sexuality in its entirety.

Lack of supervision and parental guidance is also another major cause of teenage pregnancies. It is disturbing to note that many teen mothers do not receive any education prior to them becoming pregnant. This is usually the case, especially when there is hardly any communication between the parents and their children. Many parents are so afraid of dealing with the issue that, when it does come up, they falsify information about sex, to avoid the embarrassing topic and with the hope of discouraging their offspring from taking part in sexual acts. Another major cause of this in our society is the exploitation of teenage girls by adult male. Often these men usually have close ties with the girl (Berglas 20). It could be anyone from a father, uncle, a family friend or teacher among others. Often the girls fall victim to their cajoling and end up being a victim of sexual abuse and rape. It has been observed that many abused teens have a higher probability of getting pregnant before they attain eighteen years of age.

Conclusion

Although teenage pregnancy is nowadays viewed as a common occurrence, the causes tend to vary. It should however be noted it is not possible to fully exhaust its causes as they are quite widespread. They range from poor parental guidance, peer pressure, adolescent sexual behavior, dating violence, lack of sex education and the use of birth control, rape as well as sexual abuse (Nardo 99). It is however very important to keep in mind that if sex education and open communication is enhanced, then the number of teenage mothers can be reduced drastically.

Works Cited

Berglas, Nancy. Adolescent Pregnancy and Childbearing in California. Sacramento, Calif: California State Library, California Research Bureau, 2003. Print.

Nardo, Don. Teen Sexuality; Lucent Overview Series. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 1997. Print.