Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Choosing Abstinence
Ashley Lake
Abstract
In this generation, many young teen girls are mothers all across the United States. It has
been a common sight for many years now. Though there has recently been a decline in teen
pregnancy due to new birth control and contraception, it is nevertheless an issue that seems not
to be solved yet. There has not been a most common way of keeping these rates down. Other
countries seem to have their methods yet in the United States it is looked at as unnecessary.
Action must be taken such as raised awareness and programs which support abstinence. The
problem of being sexually active does not stop at pregnancy, it expands to other issues. However,
pregnancy seems to be the largest consequence. There are negative long term affects to teen
pregnancy that determine the outcome of future generations. Many social media sites glamorize
sex too often and it is important to show teens the benefits of turning the other way, and
Many people see a teenage pregnant girl and think; I wonder what the story is
behind it. Most might say that perhaps she is an irresponsible young lady that did not use
protection. Some might say that this girl was maybe a victim of rape. Whatever the story may be,
here is what is true; the rate of young teenage pregnant girls is high. Rates have been much
higher than it has ever been specifically here in the United States of America until 2015 where
we see a bit of a decrease due to more teens on birth control. The rates also vary in ethnical
groups and different races. Rural areas tend to have high rates of teenage pregnancy. There have
been many questions as to what can be done about this issue however very little action has taken
place. Perhaps to most people it is not an issue they think of very often. However, it is crucial
because teen pregnancy can have a huge effect on the child, mother, and both their futures and
what becomes of them. Abstinence should be taught to kids growing up to avoid pregnancy. It is
also a thought to be considered because being sexually active comes with other problems such
as sexually transmitted infections. Though the chart below shows a decline in teen pregnancy
over the last few years alone, it is important to make sure the rates keep going down. A
decrease in child bearing teens would mean a decrease in the immoral act of abortion and
The reasoning behind why the teenage pregnancy rates are high is because society
tells young adults that they need to have sex or else they are an outcast or perhaps not normal.
Society glamorizes sex at a young age because they come up with all kind of reasons that it is
healthy for you or that it is fun and satisfying. It is not so satisfying when pregnancy occurs but
that is not what the media will say. Even along with glamorizing sex, teens may not feel like
pregnancy is the end of the world because our government is one to help those who need it.
Teenage girls are easily influenced and give into peer pressure when it comes to
sex. The consequences of their actions do not occur to them at the moment. This is a very good
reason as to why attention needs to be brought to the issue. IF there is not enough precautions
taking place, teen pregnancy will be easy to come by. If the right programs, education and action
take place, teen pregnancy can be avoided. Other countries have lower rates of pregnancy
because of their emphasis on sex education and the importance of abstinence. Some action in the
past has been taken to fund such programs, however, have not been so successful. It has been
shown that teens that have not been offered education on sex, have had no choice but to turn to
other things for information such as magazines. Now a days we see that magazines may no
longer be a strong influence on young adults but other forms of media have taken place such as
social media that provide the same information. Teenage girls, subsequently, began filling the
gaps left by abstinence-only education by turning to other sources of sexual information such as
magazines (Medley-Rath 2007), stating that magazines were a meaningful source of sex
education especially when they did not have a friend or family member they felt they could talk
school that had children in high school. In meeting with them I asked them many questions about
Choosing Abstinence 5
their teen pregnancy. Questions such as if they have ever received sex education or if they were
ever taught about the consequences of unprotected sex. I was surprised to learn that they had not
been talked to about sex growing up and they had wished they were educated and warned against
teen pregnancy because they did not think that such a thing could happen to them. They also
shared with me some of the struggles of having a baby at a young age. They did not express great
regret, however wish that they received more caution about pregnancy growing up.
In the United States, there are groups of teens more susceptible to pregnancy. There
are many factors to contribute to that such as; their way of upbringing, where they live and
possibly their ethnic group or race. Our results demonstrate that given their high STI and
pregnancy rates, out-of-school youth are an important group to target, with respect to the
provision of reproductive health services (Shaw) As well as teens that do not attend school,
teens from rural areas are more susceptible to pregnancy that those of urban areas. This is
There are some long term affects to not only teenage pregnancy, but also in not
choosing to remain abstinent and wait until marriage for sex. For example, most teen moms drop
out of high school because they cannot handle the work of being a new mother and pursuing an
education, which poses as a long term affect on how she will provide for her baby and what kind
of example she is showing to an influential child. Children whose parents have dropped out of
school are likely to do the same. As shown in the picture below, graduation rates are in fact
difficult for schools in the US to all agree that they are necessary. Not all public schools include
this in the curriculum because of conflict. Though new contraception medications have come out
over the last couple of years, some may believe that the pregnancy issue is solved and further
measure is not necessary. However, it is always necessary to do what is morally correct and
avoid actions in which there may be consequences. Remaining abstinent avoids consequences
Choosing Abstinence 7
such as pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, future family conflict and separation, and
even extreme measures such as abortion. Now many people will argue that abstinence and
premarital sex is dead, however it is most beneficial to a person and their well being. It is best
not to bring a baby into the world in which is not ready for it yet.
Choosing Abstinence 8
References
Shaw, S. Y., Metge, C., Taylor, C., Chartier, M., Charette, C., Lix, L., & Martens, P.J. (2016)
Teen clinics: missing the mark? Comparing pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections
rates among enrolled and non-enrolled adolescents. International Journal for Equity In
Santhanam, L. (2016, November 16). Why is the teen birth rate so much higher in rural areas?
rural-areas
Wegmann, J. (2013). It must be true- I read it in Seventeen magazine: US popular culture and sexual
doi:10.1080/14681811.2013.765358
News, C. (2013, March 04). New Yorks teen pregnancy PSAs. Retrieved October 20. 2017,
from https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/new-yorks-teen-pregnancy-psas/