Statistics:
“3 in 10 teenage girls get pregnant before turning 20,” according to StayTeen.org website. Most likely everyone knows a girl that is pregnant or was pregnant as a teenager. Being a pregnant teen can be a lot of stress: physically, socially and emotionally and there seems to be no benefits or positives to teen pregnancy.
The Harsh Reality:
Nobody agrees that being pregnant at 16 is a good thing and that it creates problems. School gets hard, rumors start up, and people start whispering, “Friends” start disappearing and parents seem disappointed. Focusing on school becomes harder and priorities have to be changed. Teens who get pregnant seemed to be looked down upon and teachers, parents, and even friends don’t look at them the same, but why are there so many teenage pregnancies? According to Medic, it has to do with peer pressure and acceptance, they do not think about the risks.
“Being a pregnant teen or a teen mom can put a strain on a young person’s social life. If the pregnancy places a financial strain on the teen and on their family, they may have to work, which limits the time that she can spend with her friends,” States Flora Richards, in article How does being a pregnant affect a Teen Mother? Being a parent is life changing no matter the age but being a teenager, it makes it a little harder because they are still in high school and some may not have jobs or do have jobs, but do not earn enough to support a family so teenagers are having to work more just to make money which results in having little leisure time.
Outcomes:
According to NCSL (National Conference of State Legislatures) only 40% of teen mothers’ finish high school in 2013. Which means 60% of teen mothers do finish high school. Though being a teen parent is filled with hardships, it is possible to get through, find someone who will support whether it is a parent, a friend or even the parent of the baby.
But there is a positive outcome Ashley Summit, a teen mom says “You have something to look forward to everyday, and yeah it’s tough but you get to learn [more] about being a mom that you never knew you had in you and you’re young but you still have many opportunities ahead of you and you can get help from colleges.” There are opportunities available for mothers who want to attend college it’s not easy but it is possible.
Works Cited
NSCL. “Postcard: Teen Pregnancy affects graduation rates.” NSCL (2013): 1 . Web.
Richards, Flora. “How Does Being Pregnant Affect a Teen Mother? .” Our Every Day Life. StudioD, 2016. Web.
Schnedier, Phil. “The “Teen Mom” Effect.” The Aspen Journal Of Ideas (2014). Web.