TEEN PREGNANCY

Does it sometimes seem like everyone your age is having sex? Do you know anyone at your school who is pregnant or has a baby? Though teen pregnancy has been on the decline over the past decade, the United States still has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any western industrialized country.

So what does this mean for you? It means that, if you're a girl in this country, you have a 34% chance of becoming pregnant by the time you're 20. And it's not just girls who are facing the consequences. The effects of teen parenthood also follow the young fathers and children throughout their lives.

You hear about teen pregnancy in movies, in the news, at school, and from your parents. You know it's not a good idea to have a baby when you're still a kid yourself, so why are so many teens still getting pregnant every year? And what can you do about it?

KNOW THE FACTS

Teen pregnancy can have serious consequences for girls and guys, including decreased chances of finishing school, a
rocky financial future, and health risks for both the mother and the child. If you are thinking about having sex, it is important to know that the effects can last a lifetime. Here's the facts about teen pregnancy:

  • Three out of ten teenage girls in the United States get pregnant at least one before age 20 -- that amounts to 745,000 teen pregnancies each year. Shocking right?
  • The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world -- twice as high as in England or Canada and eight times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan.
  • Two-thirds of all teen pregnancies occur among 18-19-year-olds, but that doesn't mean that you're immune if you are under 18.
  • Almost 50% of teens have never considered how a pregnancy would affect their lives.
  • Parenthood is the leading reason why teen girls drop out of school. Less than half of teen mothers ever graduate from high school and fewer than two percent earn a college degree by age 30.
  • Children of teen mothers do worse in school than those born to older parents -- they are 50 percent more likely to repeat a grade, are less likely to complete high school than the children of older mothers, and have lower performance on standardized tests.
  • Pregnant teens are far less likely to receive timely and consistent prenatal care than those who get pregnant at a later age. The children of teen mothers are more likely to be born prematurely and at low birthweight and are two times more likely to suffer abuse and neglect compared to children of older mothers. Teen mothers are also more likely to smoke during pregnancy, and often teen mothers are not at adequate pre-pregnancy weight and/or do not gain the appropriate amount of weight while pregnant.
  • Two-thirds of families begun by a young unmarried mother are poor. More than half of all mothers on welfare had their first child as a teenager.
  • Teen mothers are likely to have a second birth relatively soon -- about one-fourth of teenage mothers have a second child within 24 months of the first birth -- which can further impede their ability to finish school or keep a job, and to escape poverty.
  • Eight out of ten fathers don't marry the mother of their child. These absent fathers pay less than $800 annually for child support, often because they are poor themselves. Children who live apart from their fathers are also five times more likely to be poor than children with both parents at home.
  • The daughters of young teen mothers are three times more likely to become teen mothers themselves
  • The sons of teen mothers are twice as likely to end up in prison.

HAVE A PLAN

Teen pregnancy has serious consequences -- both physical and emotional -- and if you want to avoid them, you need to have a plan. So start by thinking it through carefully yourself. Though there are a variety of ways to avoid pregnancy, they can be boiled down to two basic strategies:

  • Practice Abstinence: Not having sex at all is the only 100 percent effective, foolproof method of preventing pregnancy [More information]
  • Use Contraception: If you do choose to have sex, you need to make sure that you use protection every single time. [More information]

Whether you choose to have sex or not, it is important to be able to talk about it with your partner. Having direct conversations about sex can be difficult or embarassing, but if you are confident about your facts and able to express openly how you feel it should be easier. So take some time to get informed and to think through what feels right for you. It may be helpful to talk these decisions over with a close friend, parent, doctor, or other trusted adult before you talk to your partner. When you are clear about your own feelings, it will be easier to communicate them to someone else.

GET INVOLVED

So you think teen pregnancy is a problem? Want to do something about it? There are organizations in many communities devoted to preventing teen pregnancy -- they are affiliated with churches, synagogues, schools, independent clubs, non-profit organizations, health centers, and reproductive health organizations. Contact your local school board, faith leaders, youth groups and others who are concerned about young people. You can also talk to parents and teens and educate them about the consequences of unprotected sex and teen pregnancy. In fact, one of the most important things anyone can do is to make sure parents and teens talk about these issues and know the facts.

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This page is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.