Teen Pregnacy

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Three Main Disadvantages of Teen Pregnancy

We now live in a society where sex at an early age is the order of the day. Over time the schools have tried to guide their students but most of them do not make conscience. Young people are not only having sex, but to complete, they do it without protection. So now we are living in a society where kids are raising other kids. It is alarming when statistics say that a very high percentage of high school girls give birth each year. In their favor they say it's more fun because their child will have a young mother, who will understand them better. But actually having a child so early has a number of disadvantages to both short and long term. The three main disadvantages of teen pregnancy are loss of education, financial problems and health issues.

Most young high school teens don’t see the importance of having a good education and the many disadvantages that leaving school might have until later in life (Overton & Colbert, 2010). According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (n.d.), a 40 percent of women who have babies before they are 18 unfortunately drop out of high school (Wren). Also it has been shown that most of the dropouts are not because of pregnancy-related physical difficulties, but because of emotional problems, body image embarrassment and/or fear of intimidation (Monahan, 2011). Teen moms are less likely to graduate from high school, and if they do, they are much less likely to go to college. “In fact, only 2% of teens who give birth before age 18 earn a college degree by age 30” (Overton & Colbert, 2010, p. 33 / para. 4).

In most of the cases, young parents don’t have the age, education or experience to have a good job that pays a little more than minimum wage. Salaries are spent almost entirely in

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products, clothing, medicines or other needs of the baby, instead of ending up in savings accounts. “As a result, they must rely on family or a government program to help care for their child financially” (Wren, n.d., para. 3). Statistics show that 75 percent of these young mothers go on welfare within five years of having their first child. (Collins, 2009). According to Rebecca Maynard (1996), the cycle will possibly continue through the next generation, as the daughters of teen mothers are 22 percent more likely than other teens to become teen moms too.

Of all the negative effects teen pregnancy can have, possibly the worst of all is the health risk for both the mother and the baby. According to reports from Aetna InteliHealth (n.d.), teen moms have higher rates of medical conditions such as high blood pressure or preeclampsia, compared to non-teen mothers. Also they tend to suffer from anemia and are way more susceptible than older women to experience complications during pregnancy (Wren, n.d.). These conditions are mainly caused because

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