Against Teen Pregnancy
Many adolescents are sexually active today. Whether it personal decision or being forced into it, teenagers are still involved. According to Sue Christensen and Ann Rosen, of those sexually active, only one in five use contraception (Williams). These teenagers who do not use contraception set their selves up for hardships in life. Being sexually active and using contraception as a teenager is a choice that may determine the rest of your life. Is “it” really worth it? One major outcome of those sexually active is pregnancy, which leads to many other choices: adoption, abortion, or keeping the child.
Pregnancy all begins with talk of sexual activity. According to Ilene Lelchuk, out of 618 California high school students, 44 are engaged in some type of sexual activity during the years of 2002 – 2004. These 44 students have had sexual relations by the end of tenth grade (Lelchuk 1). Statistics from The Family Connection of St. Joseph County, Inc., stated that “56 percent of young women and 73 percent of young men today have had intercourse by age 18…” (Williams 3). Beginning in the 1950s, there are records of teenagers having intercourse and many unwanted pregnancies. Shockingly, pregnancy trends from the 1950s to present.
According to Christensen and Rosen, the teen birth rate in 1957 was higher than it is today (Williams 1). Although teenage pregnancy has become more socially acceptable in this day and age, so have pregnancy terminations and abortions. This meaning the birth rate may have gone down but the pregnancy rate has not. Yet, “In 1955…only six percent of white teenage childbearing occurred outside of marriage; today it is 42 percent” (Williams 1). Although a teenager becoming pregnant was very common in the 1950s, after discovering they were pregnant, it was perceived as the right thing for the father to marry the woman he impregnated. The father was often forced into marrying the mother of his child. In the eyes of the public, this was a social norm for
Pregnancy all begins with talk of sexual activity. According to Ilene Lelchuk, out of 618 California high school students, 44 are engaged in some type of sexual activity during the years of 2002 – 2004. These 44 students have had sexual relations by the end of tenth grade (Lelchuk 1). Statistics from The Family Connection of St. Joseph County, Inc., stated that “56 percent of young women and 73 percent of young men today have had intercourse by age 18…” (Williams 3). Beginning in the 1950s, there are records of teenagers having intercourse and many unwanted pregnancies. Shockingly, pregnancy trends from the 1950s to present.
According to Christensen and Rosen, the teen birth rate in 1957 was higher than it is today (Williams 1). Although teenage pregnancy has become more socially acceptable in this day and age, so have pregnancy terminations and abortions. This meaning the birth rate may have gone down but the pregnancy rate has not. Yet, “In 1955…only six percent of white teenage childbearing occurred outside of marriage; today it is 42 percent” (Williams 1). Although a teenager becoming pregnant was very common in the 1950s, after discovering they were pregnant, it was perceived as the right thing for the father to marry the woman he impregnated. The father was often forced into marrying the mother of his child. In the eyes of the public, this was a social norm for