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
I think it's very important to consider the economic and societal factors that could possibly influence the sex life of a teenager. People often joke that when you live in a rural town in the South there is nothing else to do but fool around and have sex. That phrase is colloquial for a reason. While being a high contender for a top five spot on the teen pregnancy list, Mississippi is also one of the poorest states in the country. Are there connections between poverty level and pregnancy rate? Does lack of financial security automatically equate to an increased teen pregnancy rate? Why?
ReplyDelete-Andrea W.
I think the reason the higher poverished communities have the highest pregnancy rate is because they can't afford to have programs like sex education or abstinence only programs. I am definitley for sex education that is funded by the goverment or non-for profit organizations that could be used in schools. I also think the sex ed programs need to be in middle schools because not everyone goes on to complete high school. So many sex ed programs are only in high schools and more and more girls are getting pregnant younger than high school age.
ReplyDelete-Kristen,M
From that information it is very clear that poverty plays a direct role in teen pregnancies. In my opinion, I think teens who are in poor families feel bad asking for things such as condoms or birth control because they realize that it would be selfish to take that money away from the family when it could be used for food or shelter. I'm sure poor families have more strain on their relationship and the teens feel bothersome pestering their parents about something their parents don't want them doing in the first place. Its a tough battle and I hope parents of all economic statuses realize the importance of talking to their children.
ReplyDeleteKelsey P.
I think that poverty definitely contributes to teen pregnancy by itself. However, I think a combination of poverty and other factors is more powerful. For example, poverty plus a religious culture that makes using condoms taboo is a recipe for teen pregnancy. I'm sure there are many factors like this that are more influential combined than the sum of their singular parts.
ReplyDeleteTaylor Z.
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ReplyDeleteI think that poverty plays a huge role in teen pregnancy. I think that the lack of quality education about sex and pregnancy is just unavailable for teens in poverty to access. But that's just a small factor because there are so many other factors but does poverty need to be highlighted as one of them of course. But eradicating poverty, if that was possible, still wouldn't single handily solve the issue.
ReplyDelete-Alice M