 |
I just want to
live
I am going to explore our country’s largest, uncontrolled, expanding epidemic that we face today and that is teen age pregnancy.
Did you know that?
- 3 in 10 teen girls in the US will get pregnant at least once before age 20? That's about 745,000 teen pregnancies each year.
- Less than half of teen mothers ever graduate from high school and fewer than 2% earn a college degree by age 30.
- Children of teen mothers do worse in school than those born to older parents—they are 50% 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.
- More than half of all mothers on welfare had their first child as a teenager. In fact, two-thirds of families begun by a young, unmarried mother are poor.
- Children who live apart from their fathers are 5 times more likely to be poor than children with both parents at home.
- The daughters of young teen mothers are 3 times more likely to become teen mothers themselves.
- The sons of teen mothers are twice as likely to end up in prison.
Hard to believe that at such young age you are ready to be an adult, even though your childhood is only starting. You are trying to become an adult, every day, trying to prove it to your parents and friends. However, the time comes when you face problems and you comeback asking for help.
Growing up we hear sad stories about teenagers: wasting their lives on drugs and alcohol. The number of abortions is rising each year. Most of us promised to each other to take another road and not repeat the same mistakes. However, most of do repeat them.
They follow foot steps of their friend. Most of us make that mistake because they simply are trying to fit in. But, a moment later and it's too late. Seeing pregnant teens became a normality. Every time when i see a teen at the pharmacy buying pregnancy test it makes me feel sad and helpless. The reason for the sadness is that at that young age teens should think about school and going to college. The career should be number one priority in their lives.
Teenage pregnancy is usually a crisis for the pregnant girl and her family. Common reactions include anger, guilt, and denial. Pregnant teens can have many different emotional reactions:
- some may not want their babies
- some may want them for idealized and unrealistic ways
- others may view the creation of a child as an achievement and not recognize the serious responsibilities
- some may keep a child to please another family member
- some may want a baby to have someone to love, but not recognize the amount of care the baby needs
- depression is also common among pregnant teens
Often, anxiety over Mom and Dad’s reaction is reason a girl may hide the fact that she is pregnant. But sometimes, young women can be in terrible denial, simply refusing to accept the reality of their condition. Psychologists call this dissociation. Since today’s baggy fashions make it easier for a girl to go for months, or perhaps through her entire pregnancy, without anyone noticing her expanding abdomen.
But this fact only makes it clear that all of us need support.
The step was taking and most of time there is no way back from it. Teens become what they always urged to be "an Adult". With unwanted birth, there will be an unwanted child. The child will follow the foot steps of their parents, friends, and it continue.
Abortion
Although, there is another way. Nowadays more and more teens are getting pregnant and having abortions, secretly and easily. Kids are obviously taking this abortion opportunity for granted and not understanding the seriousness of sex and parents have the right to know and guide their children. Regardless, these kids deserve the support they need and their parents should be there to give it to them.
But you can avoid all this problems. The best method - NO SEX:
- Delay Sex: Not having sex at all is the only 100% effective method of preventing pregnancy and STIs.
- Think about this: if you're having sex and not using any kind of birth control, you're actually planning on getting pregnant. It’s as simple as that.
- When it comes to not getting pregnant or causing a pregnancy, the next best thing to no sex is protected sex. For example, did you know that a couple who has sex without using condoms or any other kind of contraception (birth control) has an 85% chance of getting pregnant within a year?
And here some truly live stories…
Live Stories
- Hello, my name is Cindy.
My ex-sister in law got pregnant at 18 too, but she was tricked into
giving the baby to social services, then she started hanging out with this drug
addict black guy, who raped and murdered her.
- Hello, my name is Carol, 15 years old.
I had a baby when I was 15. The father of my baby left me (don't know why).
But after some time I got with another guy and had another baby and I’m now
happily married.
- Hello, my name is Ricky, 16 years old.
I gave my first baby up (open adoption) but now I have 1 kid with my husband.
I get visit with my first son. My family seems happy.
- Hi, my name is Jenny.
My sister had an abortion at 16 because she "had too many party years left".
She dropped out of school anyway, was arrested for trying to rob a liquor store, served 3 years in prison and now lives with a friend. She can't hold a job. She only calls me when she wants money.
Most important thing to remember is that every single of us has a choice in this life. Make right decision and be responsible with your life so that one day your kids will not have to pay for your mistakes.
