Teen Pregnancy in the United States

Which are the main factors that cause teen pregnancy in the United States?

There are quite a number of factors that influence teen pregnancy in the United States; among those factors, here are the main and most important:

• Lack of sexual education: “[…] what teenagers lack is accurate information (Cassel, 1981) and knowledge (Gordon, 1981) concerning sexuality.” Sexual education is encouraged by the United States in Middle Schools and High Schools, but not sufficiently. There are some sectors of the American population that don’t know how to use a condom. There are some sectors as well of the American population that don’t know anything of almost anything about STD’s, or sexually transmitted diseases. The fact that a part of the teenage population in the United States doesn’t know anything or almost anything about sexual education makes the same population susceptible to early pregnancy. When the child reaches puberty, his hormones are in a state of change. The child is then interested and curious about sex issues. Starting from then, the child (in contrast of his/her period of time before puberty) is attracted to the members of the other sex. When a teenager receives little or none sexual education at all, he/she is going to act in agreement to his/her instincts or his/her common sense. The common sense would tell the teenager to have sex without any protection at all. Or, for example, the common sense would tell the male teenager to ejaculate outside the female reproductive organ, not knowing that there is the “pre-seminal” liquid during penetration, which provokes conception, and therefore, pregnancy. Furthermore, the common sense would tell teenagers that the use of condoms reduces sexual pleasure:

Researchers from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center and three other institutions surveyed more than 1,400 adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 and 21 who had unprotected sex in the previous 90 days. They found that teens that did not use condoms were significantly more likely to believe that condoms reduce sexual pleasure and were also more concerned that their partner would not approve of condom use. The findings appear in the September/October issue of Public Health Reports.

Scientists have researched anti-conception methods and have published information regarding those results to the public. That useful information is available and can be used by educated teenagers, which are the ones who live their lives without early pregnancy.   If the whole student population of the country was encouraged or (to some extent) obliged to receive sexual education, teenage pregnancy would reduce to lower levels, making life conception a thing for only adults.

• The influence of media on the teen audience: TV commercials, newspaper and internet adds, public announcements in the street, magazines, and other kinds of media are always advertising products in which sexual attraction or pleasure are promoted to sell a determined product. You can see an exposed human body or a couple during sexual activity in an advertisement of a cologne or perfume, for example. This creates in teens an influence, and creates those people advertising their idols or models.

Whereas 50 years ago a teen´s family, friends, school, and church probably were the primary influences on his or her attitudes, values, and beliefs about sexuality, today´s teens have access to a fifth powerful influence, the ubiquitous mass media. Reaching worldwide, the media bring teens compelling images of sexuality that range from the predictability of a television soap opera or country-western ballad to the unpredictability of an independent filmmaker or recording artist. These media windows on the world (Lippmann, 1922) are part of teens’ Lived Experience. 

So, as media influences teenagers to be active sexually, the risk of teenage pregnancy shifts up, making the influence of media a cause of teenage pregnancy. The most logical solution of this problem would be the banning of sexual images of the promotion of products of any type, so that teenagers can be limited to that influence.

• Peer influence on the common teenager: Teenagers are influenced, as well, by their peers. The common “peer pressure” term arises in this situation. By gaining rather respect or admiration in a group, you have to meet certain requirements that that group asks for. In modern society male groups, for example, a male who is a virgin is not well seen and received by the group, and therefore, is rejected. Teenagers have the difficulty of saying “no” sometimes; most commonly when it refers to drug situations. When a peer offers drugs of any kind, i. e. alcohol, marihuana, cocaine, etc. to a teenager, he/she meets with two choices; or saying no and be rejected in the group, or saying yes and gain respect and admiration. What happens more often is that the teenager goes for the respect and admiration. Those drugs often make teenagers to have sex without any protection or without any concern that they are doing it because those drugs are mind-blurring and cause dizziness. “A third group is composed of teenagers for whom education, prevailing social attitude, peer pressures and other factors will strongly influence whether they are sexually active or inactive.” That’s why “peer pressure” is another factor that causes teen pregnancy and it is a problem in society. What could work in that case is encourage the person from their childhood to learn how to say “no” to those kinds of situations.
• Family environment in the child’s life: In a child’s life, his/her family, especially his/her parents, are the greatest influence that are going to determine his/her personality and way he/she is going to do things later on in life. It has been proved that children who suffered sexual harassment by rather their parents or another family member during their childhood are most likely to conceive a baby during their teens. On the other hand, loving families, who are strict and provide children care and love, have children who regularly don’t have premature sex and don’t conceive a child until their adulthood. This is a factor which is really difficult to provide a solution–even a long term solution- to. This is an issue of how well the child’s parents were raised by their parents, so it results to be a family chain issue. However, denouncing sexual harassment to children could be a part of the solution, or a step in the right track of the solution because if children are not sexually harassed, they are going to be less likely parents in their teens.

Appendixes

Appendix A

Consequences of teen pregnancy.

Appendix B

Media practice Model, extracted from the book Teenage Sexuality and Media Practice: Factoring in the Influences of Family, Friends, and School, by Jeanne Rogge Steele The Journal of Sex Research (Page 335)© 1999

Bibliography

1. The New Sex Education and the Sexual Revolution: A Critical View, by Lawrence L. Shornack and Ellen McRoberts Shornack Family Relations (page 545)© 1982 .
2. Teenage Sexuality and Media Practice: Factoring in the Influences of Family, Friends, and School, by Jeanne Rogge Steele The Journal of Sex Research (Page 345)© 1999 .
3. An Approach to the Problem of Teenage Pregnancy, by Donald Ian Macdonald Public Health Reports (1974-) (Page 380)© 1987 .
4. Chilman, C. Teenage pregnancy: A research review (Pages  200-2012) Social Work, 1979, 24, 492-498.
5. Juhasz, A., & Sonnenshein-Schneider, M. Adolescent sexual decision-making: Components and skills (Pages 11-15). Adolescence, 1980, 15, 743-750.

Reference Sites:

1. Reference: 4parents.gov: is part of a national public education campaign to provide parents with the information, tools and skills they need to help their teens make healthy choices, including waiting until marriage to have sex.
2. Reference: Researchers report on teen condom use.