PRINCESS SHOEBELYN C.

MAURICIO GRADE XI- ANGEL MICHAEL

READING AND WRITING JULY 22, 2019

Causes and Effects of Teen Pregnancy

https://wiki.ubc.ca/Causes_and_Effects_of_Teen_Pregnancy

Teenage Pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy refers to female adolescents becoming pregnant between the ages of 13-19. These young females
have not yet reached adulthood and the causes of teenage pregnancy vary greatly.
Teenage pregnancy may be linked to things such as lack of education and information about reproduction, peer pressure
and early engagement of sexual activity. Although some teenage pregnancies are intentional, the majority of them are
unintentional and lead to many negative outcomes for the teenage mother, the child as well as other family and peers.
Teenage mothers generally do not have the resources to care for a child and often they are not able to sustain healthy
habits throughout pregnancy to ensure they produce a healthy baby. These young females often do not complete their
education and they begin a perpetual cycle in which their child may further go on to become a teenage parent as well.

Definition
Adolescent pregnancy is defined as females between the ages of 13-15 who engage in sexual activity and become
pregnant either intentionally or unintentionally. Many times, these teens are regarded as selfish, apathetic and immoral by
the general population regardless of the teens intention of getting pregnant.

Causes
In some cultures, customs and traditions lead to early marriage which would therefore lead to early pregnancy. In these
cases, pregnancy is acceptable and is most often intentional, however they are occurring in developing countries such as
India and Sub-Saharan Africa. In developed countries however, teenage pregnancy is most often unintentional and due to
a variety of different reasons.
Drugs and Alcohol
During adolescence, teenagers may drink and experiment with drugs frequently with their friends at social gatherings and
parties. Teens, however, do not realize the impacts alcohol and drugs have on the functioning of their brain, especially the
effects of binge drinking which is consuming large amounts of alcohol during one sitting. Drinking excessively as well as
experimenting drugs may lead to unwanted and unintentional pregnancy. These substances greatly affect a teens ability
to logically think and carry out general thinking processes, thus increases the chances they will engage in unprotected
and unsafe sexual activity
Low Socio-economic Status
Teens who become pregnant often come from families of low socio-economic status. Growing up, these children often
come from families who are suffering from poverty and do not have all the necessary resources to raise their child. These
children grow up to have low educational goals and successes because of the lack of involvement from their own parents.
These young kids then predisposed to a negative environment end up with less ambition to succeed in school and begin
making friendships with other teens who are going through similar situations as them. It is these groups of teens who
begin to experiment with drugs and alcohol and do not do very well in school.
Low socio-economic status is further linked to low levels of family connectedness. This means that children/youth growing
up in these homes do not have strong role models or individuals to look up to or learn from. Within these low socio-
economic status families, abuse is often prevalent and predisposes youth to unsafe and troubling conditions. Whether the
child is being abused or witnessing domestic abuse, adolescents are being separated and disconnected from their
families which might lead to poor decision making. This lack of family connectedness pushes youth away from confiding in
the adults within their homes but towards other troubled youth suffering in the same ways.
With their lack of education and knowledge about reproduction, these teens engage in unprotected and unsafe sexual
activity. These teens do not know about the available contraceptives nor do they explore their options. Even if the
adolescents have some form of contraception they are using them incorrectly which makes them useless during sexual
activity. These teens simply engage in intercourse at very young ages, and may have multiple partners which further
leads to increased chances of pregnancy.
Peer Pressure and Sexual Abuse
Peer pressure is another major cause of sexual abuse, often females may be pressured or forced by an older male
partner to engage in sexual activity. These young females out of fear may feel forced to engage in unprotected sex
without a choice.
Peer pressure may also be prevalent in a different form while in relationships adolescents may be pressured by their
partner to have unsafe and unprotected sex in order to express their "love" and "true feelings" for their partner. The
partner may manipulate the other to have unprotected sex which leads to unintended pregnancy.
Sexual abuse is also another reason why teens may become pregnant. Early sexual abuse has been linked to later teen
pregnancies. Some children have unfortunately been sexually abused my predators or even family even prior to entering
puberty. These young kids often are unable to inform a trusted adult about the situation due to fear of being harmed by
their predator. These situations, further effect the child as they enter adolescence and increases chances of teen
pregnancy.
Media Influence
The media has a large effect on teen pregnancy, especially shows such as "Teen Mom" and "16 and Pregnant". These
shows often glamorize pregnancy and hide the true hardships associated with pregnancy which encourages these teens
to become pregnant. Some teenage females become pregnant just so they are able to drop out of high school or to force
their partners into a deeper commitment. Rebellion is also another reason why some teens will become pregnant. In order
to show their independence and deem themselves as having more control over their lives, a teen may decide to have a
child. These television glorify the idea of having a child through the promotion of these teenagers having a more adult
lifestyle, with more responsibility and decision-making power.

Effects of Teenage Pregnancy

Mothers
Due to becoming pregnant during adolescence, teen mothers are very likely to drop out of school because of their low
ambitions and dedication to getting an education. About 38% of female teens who have a child before the age of 18
complete their highschool education by the age of 22. This means that a very high percentage of teen mothers will not
even go on to graduate from high school let alone pursue post-secondary education. In light of this, these young girls do
not have full qualifications for proper jobs in the future, which leads to having a job with very low wages or even worse,
unemployment. Further, this leads to poor living conditions and the inability to maintain a safe and clean environment for
their newborn child. These young women often end up living on welfare and do not have adequate resources for their
child. Overall, these young girls are forced to delay and postpone any plans for their future in order to raise their child.
Another issue associated with teen pregnancy is the young mother is often forced to essentially give up her identity for a
new one while switching into a maternal role. These young mothers go through many physical changes: from adolescent
physical adjustment to having to adapt to the ever changing shape of her body through the pregnancy and her postpartum
figure.
Teens are often forced to become reliant on their family for financial resources as well as support to help get her through
raising a child. In some cases, teens are shunned by their parents and do not even receive any support from their parents
who are not accepting of the pregnancy. These young girls are often forced to lose contact with friends and others in their
social groups in order to focus on their pregnancy.
Pregnant teens often do not have the proper healthy habits in order to go through a successful child rearing process.
These mothers thus have heightened health risks, which inhibits healthy child development. Young women can suffer
from things such as anaemia as well as blood pressure which is only possible during pregnancy. These mothers often
smoke and drink because they are not properly educated on the child rearing process.
Having a child during these essential years truly clashes with the developmental tasks that should be occurring during
adolescents. These young mothers are unable to fully develop a sense of self-identity because of their new role as an
expecting mother. Further, peer and social relationships are strained or even terminated and teen years are essentially for
developing relationships with others and discovering oneself . Due to all of these factors, teen mothers may end up
developing depression after essentially being alienated from their family and friends. These symptoms of depression
increase the chances of the teen mother committing suicide.
Pursuing this further, teen mothers are often strained for resources and social support from the father of the child. In some
cases, the teen father will remain present throughout the process and in others the father will not. If the father remains
present there is often high relationships tension and dissatisfaction because of the lack of financial resources, support and
child care which will be needed. There is an increase in conflict which may lead to breakups, leaving the mother to be a
single parent or even violence within the relationship. Due to the lack of financial resources, these young women often do
not get prenatal checkups or regular checkups for their developing child and thus they are unaware of any health
concerns for their child.
Many of these teen mothers are not healthy enough, thus they have a higher risk for obstructed labour and also these
young women often undergo unsafe abortions which lead to the death of many young females and their unborn child.
Child
The child of a teen mother is very likely to live in poverty because of its mothers lack of financial resources. Essentially,
the birth of this child becomes the beginning of a perpetual cycle in many cases. The child is likely to endure many of the
same issues its mother did in her childhood. For instance, the child is likely to grow up in poverty and in very poor
conditions. They are likely to be missing a father figure, leaving them with fewer role models and increased chances of
confiding in other children in the same situation. The children's academic success is also further compromised and these
children do not strive to achieve much academically. Furthermore, these kids have social problems and are unable to
make friends very easily which leads to poor relationship development which is a crucial stage in adolescence. Poor
relationship development can be linked to the child being deprived economically as well as educationally. The children are
likely to drop out of high school and also succumb to the use of drugs and alcohol due to lack of parental involvement and
monitoring. The cycle is very likely to repeat itself over and over.
The children are often also likely to suffer health risks in comparison to those born to adults. They are likely to be
cognitively impaired and also susceptible to behavioural issues. The children are likely to be born underweight and
prematurely, which is detrimental to their health and may even result in infant mortality.

Causes of Teenage Pregnancy:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/causes-effects-prevention-control-teenage-pregnancy-acquah

Christ Centered Counseling Network (CCCN), www.cccn.webs.com, www.facebook.com/cccnpage or

@cccnpage, twitter - @cccncounseling), has researched into it and have found the causes of it. According to
CCCN, the following are the causes of teenage pregnancy: poverty, broken home, separation of couples, single
parent, death, peer pressure or influence, lust, religious beliefs, rape and sexual abuse, alcoholism and drug
abuse, lack of knowledge, environmental influence, and pornography.

1. Poverty - which means the state of being poor make teenage girls to be trap by their age mates’ males or
older people. In an interview in a hospital with a pregnant teenager she said the parents could not provide all
learning materials for her and she used to visit a male classmate often to study with him and also take some of
his books home. They liked each other more and by the time she realised they were into a serious relationship
and got pregnant. Others that CCCN interviewed stated their parents pushed them into commercial sex work,
and some also said rich and perceived gentlemen lured them with money and got them pregnant.

2. Broken Home - refers to a family that is either poor or there is lack of control. It may also refer to a home
that the couples are not staying together either by divorce or separation or death of a one. Teenagers in such a
home suffer a lot, there is no or little parental love and affection, no control and the poor girl may be a prey to
her school mates, some irresponsible men and at the end get pregnant.

3. Separation of couple - is when couples are separated due to marital problems or one of them has travelled
or work outside the town of the other partner or family. Separation is very dangerous because stubborn girls
take advantage of it. She may tell the mother am visiting my father and because the mother may not want to
speak to the husband because of may be some misunderstanding between them, does not find whether the
daughter go the father on exact time and date she leaves the house. Likewise the father, the daughter tells him
am going to my mother but may divert and spend some time with a boyfriend before getting to the mother’s
house.

4. Single parent – is when one of the parents is only taking care of the children due to death, or separation, or
divorce. Stubborn girls take advantage of the parent time (parent do not have time due to working hours) and
spent time with boyfriend(s) and at the end may get pregnant.

5. Death – some teenagers get pregnant due to the death of their parent(s). The girl may lack parental control,
or pampered by inheritors of the deceased parent(s) and may be victim of stubborn boys and men.

6. Peer pressure or influence – those teenagers who get pregnant in their teens may be a friend’s influence.
Most young teenagers who are in boy – girl relationship laugh at their peers who are not. At the end they also
get into it and may get pregnant.

7. Lust – some teenagers get into sexual relationships because of lust. In adolescent stages both males and
females go through some psychological and physical sexual feelings and may put into reality or act on it. This
often results in teenage pregnancy.

8. Religious beliefs and practices – it is a practice in some religions to marry as a teenager. They believe in
early marriage and some parents do not even allow their girl child to have formal education.

9. Rape and sexual abuse – some teenagers get pregnant as a result of rape or may be sexually abuse by
some of their teachers, or an elderly person.

10. Alcoholism and drug abuse – many students are found of taking in alcohol and hard drugs. There is a
saying that the devil finds work for an idle hand, the drunkards usually indulge in casual sex and hence many
young girls get pregnant.

11. Lack of knowledge or ignorance – many young girls lack knowledge of pregnancy. The uneducated are the
most victims. They just enter into relationship without any caution.

12. Environmental influence – this refers to the social norms and values in the community. In some
communities, the moment the girl child gets her first menstruation, she can get married. Some times to it is
normal for a teenager to get pregnant in the community because the parents and grandparents were once the
same.

13. Pornography – pornography videos and photos available on the internet, magazines, newspapers, books,
and other media house lure teenagers into indiscriminate sex and may leads to teenage pregnancy.

Effects or Consequences:
The research by CCCN team found out that teenage pregnancy has an adverse effects and consequences on the
individual or victim, family, and the society as a whole. The following are some of the effects or consequences:
school dropout, fatherless children, street children, arm robbery, dependency burden, death, increase of
economic hardship, spread of diseases, abortion, and family conflicts.

1. School dropout – many teenagers who get pregnant are not able to complete their education. Their friends
may laugh at them and feel shy of going back even if their parents can take care of the new born baby. Also the
teenage mother may lack behind even if she go back to school.

2. Fatherless or bastard children - many children born by teenage mothers do not know their biological
fathers because the guy or man responsible did not accept to be the impregnator.

3. Street children – some children born by teenage mothers may end up being street children. This happens
because; the teenage parent(s) may not take proper care or cannot afford to provide for the children.

4. Arm robbery – many arm robbers were born by teenage parent(s). Some of the street children grew up to
become arm robbers.

5. Dependency burden – teenage mothers or parents and babies put their burden on their relatives hence
adding to the relatives problems.

6. Death – some teenagers do not return from hospital when they visit maternity ward to give birth. Meaning
some die during child delivery.

7. Increase in economic hardship – teenage pregnancy increases the population in a nation and may bring
economic hardship. The government has to increase infrastructure development, social amenities etc.

8. Spread of diseases – teenage mothers or parents usually spread sexual transmitted diseases (STD). When
the relationship starts, the guy may have indiscriminate sex likewise the girl hence increase in spread of STDs
may occur.

9. Abortion – teenage girls usually makes the attempt to abort their babies. Abortion is not accepted in many
nations and also immoral according to the bible. The effects of abortion are childlessness in future, death,
deformities of the teenager or the baby etc.

10. Family conflicts – usually teenage pregnancy results in conflicts between the girl’s parents and the guy or
boy’s parents. This may due to tribal issues, finances, religious beliefs, etc.

Prevention and Control:

Christ Centered Counseling Network (CCCN) suggests that, teenage pregnancy can be prevented and
controlled by biblical counselling, sex education, charity and humanitarian aids, provision of studying materials,
adult education, law enforcement, community outreach programmes, and other social interventions.

1. Biblical counselling – the bible is the only authoritative, authentic, and accurate book that is best for
counselling. It is GOD’s deep thoughts, and expressions. The only qualified person who can use the bible to
counsel is the one who has the mind of Christ, meaning the person has the Holy Spirit in him, and always act in
the direction of the Holy Spirit.

2. Sex education – students and teenagers must be taught of sex. When and how to have legal sex, the
consequences of indiscriminate and casual sex, and the effects of teenage pregnancy. This must be done by
God-fearing medical persons.

3. Charity and humanitarian aids – charity is love in action. We can help in humanitarian services such as
donating to charity homes, NGO’s that are into social activities and interventions, and other ways to help reduce
teenage pregnancy.

4. Provision of studying materials – individuals, organisations, and the government have to donate or
provide text books, pencils, computers, etc. to schools, colleges and public libraries to aid learning. This will
help those who cannot afford to buy learning materials to also have access.
5. Adult education – parents and guardians are to be educated on the importance of their wards education and
future. Also teenage mothers are to be counselled and encourage to restore hope and opportunities in them.

6. Law enforcement – all pornography videos, magazines, and books must be banned from schools, colleges,
and public libraries, social networks, and TV, this will help prevent teenage pregnancy. Rapist, sexual abusers
and molestations are to be prisoned to correct them.

7. Community outreach programmes – government agencies, NGO’s, churches, and other stakeholders must
get involved in community outreach programmes such as HIV awareness week, crusades, provision of social
amenities, etc..