Teenage Pregnancy: The Causes to a Social Problem

Teenage Pregnancy : The Causes to a Social Problem

Many factors can be named in exploring the causes of teenage pregnancy most of them proven by reliable studies among teenage women and women who underwent teenage pregnancy . In the first part of the , a survey by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (2004 ) named parents and friends as highly influential in the teenagers ' decision to engage in sexual activity . This revealed that , contrary to popular belief , 45 of the respondents said that parents gave them the strongest influence . 88 of these respondents

said that they could have suspended engaging into sexual activity if they had more opportunity to communicate with their parents . Only 31 of the survey 's respondents claimed that their peers had influence in their decision to engage in sexual activity

Economics was also named a culprit . Christensen and Rosen (1996 ) assert that women from low-income families are more likely to get pregnant as teenagers , in comparison to women from higher-income families who may choose to withhold pregnancy because it will sacrifice their financial independence and the other perks of being single

The media is also still on the list . While the media is currently being saved by many from the sin of bombarding teenagers with too much sexually explicit content , saying that proper parental guidance can ease the effects of media , it may still have a role in the dilemma . The campaign for sexual responsibility alongside shows which has sexual content offer mixed messages that may confuse teens , where while there are campaigns or shows telling teenagers to abstain from sexual intercourse until they are ready or until they get married , or to use contraception , a considerably higher percentage of programs exhibit sexual content (Christensen and Rosen , 1996

According to Weis (2000 , one in four television programs in the United States emphasize sexual behavior one in eight contains a scene depicting sexual activity . Out of these , sexual responsibility is rarely implied . Moreover , research has proven that sexual implications in the media contribute to the actual engagement of teenagers to sexual intercourse . This despite the 77 respondents of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy who said that the media drive for sexual responsibility is comprehensive

Gender expectation such as the attitudes of male partners towards sex is often an overlooked factor in teenage pregnancy . In many cultures sexual intercourse is natural for men while a taboo for women . However men take an equal part in the process of sexual intercourse , and should thus equally undergo comprehensive sexual education (Weis , 2000

In the same way , the age of the partner may also be accountable . Studies show that women below 18 who become pregnant have partners who are older than them by six years or more . This can be related to the fact that women whose partners are older than them by this range are less likely to use contraceptives , compared to women whose partners are near their own age range (Weis , 2000

Structural inequality may also be...