Why Teen Pregnancy is a Poverty Problem

Why Teen Pregnancy is a Poverty Problem 

This short article addresses the issues of Poverty and Teenage pregnancy and the correlation between the two. I chose this article because I thought the relationship between the highest area of teenage pregnancies and poverty according to state was very interesting. "Mississippi, for example, has the nation's highest rate of poverty and the third highest rate of teen pregnancies. New Mexico is third in poverty and second in teen pregnancies. Texas leads in teen pregnancies and comes in ninth in the poverty rankings." "(M G). What other contributing factors come into play when it comes to teenage pregnancy? Another issue that made me think while reading this article was, if we are a thriving economic country why comparatively do you still have such a high percentage of teenage pregnancies? Should we make abstinence only education or should we be teaching teenagers about the dangers and precautions necessary for a healthy sex life?

Sarah D

What does it take to fight teen pregnancy

     Teen pregnancy the newest fad in social problems has been plaguing the news lately. The society has been trying to "fix" the problem. What does it really take to fix a problem of this stature? What about $30 million dollars? As if we haven't tried to bandage this wound with band-aids why not through money on top of it? The tax payers are already emptying their pockets to pay for welfare and WIC but now there may or may not people a governmental push for more money. There has not been a proven program that lowers teen pregnancies so what will the $30 million dollars actually go to? The article from wwl.com says that there will be pushes to even ask out faith-based institutions for help with this.
     In my own opinion the only thing that will "fight" this social problem is a culture shift. Maybe teen pregnancy will be less prevalent or more accepted but what will an extra $30 million dollars help?

-Alice McElroy

$30 Mil to prevent teen pregnancy?

Home Is Not Where The Heart Is For Some Pregnant Teens..

“Women exposed to abuse, violence and family strife in childhood are more likely than those without such experiences to have a teenage pregnancy; the greater the number of adverse childhood experiences, the higher the likelihood of pregnancy”, this is according to a retrospective study of women attending a primary care clinic in San Diego. It is never really discussed in the episodes of “Teen Mom” and “16 & Pregnant” the background of the young people that get pregnant, but obviously this could play a part in why they had sex and got pregnant.

Obviously the show would not display too much, if any, abuse or violence between family members so it is important to keep these factors in mind when watching the show and remember they could be present. It is unfortunate that the gift of a child has to be the “accident” of a dysfunctional relationship between family members. 

Sadly, it makes sense that someone getting hurt would just simply want to be loved. This would explain their consent to sex, even if they know the risks. Could the answer be that we need more counseling about teaching teens to get help if they are hurting at home rather than sex itself?

--Kelsey P

Absent Teenage Fathers. Fact or Fiction?

In the NPR video of "MTV's 'Teen Mom' Makes for Teaching Moments", it was stated that none of the fathers stuck around for their child in 16 and Pregnant 2. I have also noticed that it was quite frequent to see the father become absent some or all of the time. How prevalent is absent teenage fathers in the US?

According to Times' article "Teenage Fathers: The Missing Father Myth", discusses that not only were teenage fathers willing, but were eager to help. Times also stated that teenage fathers are usually depicted as "churlish scamps, irresponsible hit-and-run artists out to prove their sexual prowess without a thought for the consequences". They went on to discover, however, that "82% reported having daily contact with their children; 74% said they contributed to the child's financial support. Almost 90% maintained a relationship with the mother, whom they had known for an average of two years". The article went on to discuss some of the struggles teen fathers face and what programs are being established to help them as well as teen mothers. I think it is important to remember that for every teen mom there is a father too.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1074862-1,00.html

-Montgomery, K