Teenage Pregnancy
Abstract
Teen pregnancy has always been an issue in all the states in the US; however the rate at which teenage pregnancy is rising in the state of Tennessee and more specifically in the city of Memphis had had the whole state concerned. The ever rising cases of teenage pregnancies and more recently in Frayser high school in Memphis has led to calls for drastic actions to prevent the rise of pregnancy cases in High school children. Parents have been asked to take more responsibility in educating their children on matters with sex and teen pregnancies. This paper will focus on various cases of teenage pregnancies that have recently been reported in schools such as in Frayser high school where 90 students were recorded to be pregnant.
The paper will also discuss the varying and worrying and rising rates of pregnancies in Memphis in comparison with the national rates. Measures and steps discussing how parents should be involved will also be discussed. Factors such as close relationships, mutual respect and trust as well as having open and two-way discussion with the children about teen pregnancy and sex will be mentioned. Counter arguments in support of teachers as the primary source of sex education will also be indicated. Overall, it is the responsibility of the parent to ensure that their children are informed on the dangers of early sex and how to avoid unwanted teen pregnancies.
Introduction
Teenage pregnancy in the city of Memphis, Tennessee is on the rise. The continuing and ever rising incidents is a cause of worry and concern and unless stringent measures are taken, the numbers of school girls that are dropping out of schools as a result of teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy can be referred to as a pregnancy in which the m0other to be is less than 20years of age regardless whether the mother to be is married or not or whether the mother to be is legally an adult. Commonly the use of the term teenage pregnancy refers to the unmarried minors who become pregnant unintentionally. This paper will specifically focus on high school teenagers that find themselves pregnant against their wish.
Discussion
In January 2011, action news 5 reported that teen pregnancy had hit a high school in Memphis. It was reported that ninety students at Frayser high school in Memphis were pregnant and if not pregnant already had given birth to their babies. The report further indicated that the statistics meant that 11% out of the 800 high school students at the high school were already faced with the burden of parenthood at the young age (Action News 5, 2011).
The abc24 news reported that the teen pregnancy rates in the state of Memphis had surpassed the national average mark. Reports indicated that the state of Memphis has teen pregnancy rates that are almost double the national average. In almost a dozen zip codes the pregnancy rates has reached 20% and in some the rate is up to 26%. Nationally the rate of teen pregnancy is 10% whereas that of Memphis is 13% and the number is still growing rapidly. The rates of the counties in Memphis are equally alarming, for example Shelby County has a ten pregnancy rate of 16% with 5% of the pregnancy being of mother that are below the age of 19. The zip codes 38127 and 38106 which are the Frayser community and the south area, the teen pregnancy rates stands at 26%.
The causes for this high pregnancy rates at Memphis is the fact that unlike in the past where those that became pregnant were shunned down.It is now more acceptable to become pregnant (Abcnews, 2011).
Awareness initiatives have been introduced especially in hard hit communities such as Frayser. Programs such as ‘No Baby’ program are to be introduced in schools. The program aims at informing the teenagers on the dangers of early pregnancy and why it is better to avoid pregnancies. The programs will also involve the use of billboards, adverts posters and t-shirts with the title ‘no baby’. The program also aims at involving the boys so that they can be responsible in there sexual activities (Action News 5, 2011).
Parental involvement can curve teen pregnancy rates. It is the duty of the parents to form close relationships with their children right from a young and early age. Parents should aim to create a warm tone when addressing their children as well as be able to communicate with their children and be in a position to have mutual trust and respect. With a clear communication pathway between the parents and their children, the parents will be in a position to clearly and comfortably communicate their own sexual values and attitudes. The parents should not leave the task of discussing about sex to the teachers in school. The parents should be in a position to communicate to their children about sex, love and relationships. The parents should also clearly indicate to their teen children the dangers of engaging in sexual activities. The teen children will be enlightened earlier about the dangers of sex and as a result, be more careful about engaging in sexual activities (Baker, 2007).
Parents involvement in the fight against early teen pregnancy will also be felt if the constantly engage their children in conversation regarding sex. The parent should create a comfortable environment where the teen will be comfortable to share his/her own view and opinions on sex and matters related to sex. The talk on sex should therefore be continuous as the child grows. The parent should also involve their teen children in age appropriate talks on relationships and intimacy which should begin when the child is young all through to early adolescence (Campos, 2002).
Parents should also be the authoritative figure in the house. They should be able to supervise and monitor the activities of their children. From a young age establish curfews and clearly indicate to the child the accepted behaviour. The child will therefore grow knowing what is right or wrong and having been used to curfews he/she will not rebel against it (Campos, 2002).
Parents should also take time to know the friends that their children associate with and if they positively or negatively affect the child. Be open about your opinion on the friends that your child associates with. Parents should be aware that the friends that their children associate with have an influence on each other. It is also important that the parents of the children that are friends come together to establish common rules and curfews. This way the child will positively respond to the instructions, curfews and rules that their parents give (Baker, 2007).
It is the responsibility of the parent to talk to their children of the dangers of early dating. The parents should indicate early enough. Parents should indicate their preference to their children early enough so that they children understand. Studies have also indicated that teens that date older partners have a higher chance of getting pregnant than those that are dating in the same age group. Parents should therefore indicate clearly and early enough their opposition of older dating partners. Parents of boys should also inform their children early enough on the disapproval with dating very young girls.
Sex education should begin from the home and family set up and the teachers should act just as the secondary reinforcers to the education on sex. The parents should be in a position to talk about the human anatomy and the changes that occur in the body as one grows up. Talks on reproduction and sexual intercourse should be an often discussed topic in the household between the parents and their growing teenagers. The parents should be free with their children to discuss matters of safe sex, the use of contraceptive as well as sexual orientations. It is also important to talk to the teen child about sexually transmitted diseases because other than pregnancy the other risk that the child is exposing hi/herself to is STDs (Campos, 2002).
Counter arguments on the role of the parent in sex education indicate that the children spend most of their life and time in school and therefore it is the teachers’ who should bear the main responsibility on matter related to sex education. Others claim that some parents are too strict such that the home environment is not contusive for talks on pregnancies and overall sex education. It has also been reported that most of the American parents are absorbed at work and other responsibilities that they hardly have the time to sit and engage their teen children in conversations on sex and pregnancy.
Other parents have even hired nannies to take care of their children and as result the parent-child relationship is not present. These factors seem to support the theory that the teacher should be the primary source of sex education. It is the teachers that interact with the children everyday, it sis the teachers who first note new relationships forming at schools. These relationships will blossom to dating and the partners will begin to engage in sexual activities. With this in mind, the teachers have the first upper hand in relation to sex matters and teenage pregnancy (Baker, 2007).
Conclusion
More emphasis should be placed on the importance of sex education to young and growing children. Sex education is an ongoing lesson that begins early in the life of the child and goes on to adolescence stage when the child is curious of the changes that are occurring in his body. Solid and constant education has been proven to have a positive effect on the occurrence of teen age pregnancy. It has been found out that contrary to the fear that most parents have that this type of education would make their children feel more liberated and therefore indulge in sex more readily, those children that have sex education teachings from a young age arte more conscious of sexual matters and are more aware of the consequences of sexual activities, pregnancies and diseases.
As a result they practice caution in their sexual activities than those without any form of sex education. It is therefore the duty of the parent to ensure that they create a proper home environment so that they can freely discuss such matters early in the life of the child. In the school set up, the teachers will therefore just act as a secondary source to what the child has been taught and will just reinforce the parents’ ideas and points.
Reference
Action News 5. (2011). Frayser school pregnancy rates retrieved from http://www.wmctv.com/story/13824956/90-students-at-frayser-high-school?redirected=true on 17th April 2011
Abcnews, (2011) Teen pregnancy passes national average. Retrieved from http://www.abc24.com/news/local/story/Memphis-Teen-Pregnancy-Rate-Passes-National/zLObDyFxR0-5__LWsUodVA.cspx on 17th April 2011
Baker, P. (2007). Teenage pregnancy and reproductive health. RCOG
Campos, D. (2002). Sex, youth, and sex education. ABC-CLIO
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