Teenage Pregnancy Introduction

MARCH 13 2013 LECTURER: ZHEN ROLLE COURSE TITLE: HUMAN GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT TOPIC: TEENAGE PREGNANCY INTRODUCTION Today many teenage pregnancies are evident, contrary to the biblical view point and the understanding of the rule “NO SEX before MARRIAGE. Many young females have fallen into lust and temptation of involving themselves into sexual activities, which leads to many disastrous outcomes, one of which is teenage pregnancy.
This occurrence was rarely evident back in the days; it was very rare to see a young girl pregnant, now when a teenage girl is expecting a baby it is more on an excitement level than a shameful mistake. In this paper I will try to show how young women report varied accounts of the extent to which their pregnancy was planned; how their childhood and backgrounds acted as contributing factors to “planning” a pregnancy and also how more explicit and direct influences include viewing pregnancy as a chance to gain a new identity and direction in life.
I interviewed four young ladies whose lives have been changed by teenage pregnancy. They were between the ages of 13-22 most has been in stable relationships, and got married, though some relationships had since broken down. What are some reasons why teenage pregnancy exists? Well statistics has shown that most children who grow up in Nuclear Families are most likely to succeed. They tend to be more in control of certain circumstances compared to children who come from a single family home.

Whereas children who live with a single parent are more unsettled and fails to reject the social pressures plaguing society today. An unsettled background and bad experiences at school provided an impetus to change direction in life. Young people saw this as way to control their own life and to gain independence. INTERVIEWS Interview 1 Interviewer: Hi. I am not asking for advice on a pregnancy. I am not pregnant. I am doing a research project on teen pregnancies. I would like to hear about your experience. Patty: I would be glad to help you with your research I have experienced a great deal.
I got pregnant at 15, a sophomore in high school, but I hid it from everyone till I was almost 8 and 1/2 months along because I didn’t feel it was anyone’s business but mine. When my parents found out, my mom threatened to make me put the baby up for adoption, well needless to say, I had my first which was a girl and I was still seeing the father but my mom did what she could to try and break us up and I just ended up seeing him more and more so I ended up in a foster home for a few months until my mom and dad agreed to sign for me to get married, because I was already pregnant with my second one.
I still went to school though, my parents agreed for me to get married on the terms of me finishing high school, but I flat out told them that nobody would make me finish, I was finishing because I wanted to not because someone else wanted me to. Well I got married at 17, had a house, a husband, and 2 kids to take care of but I still graduated with my class and there were many hard times but I dealt with them the best I could.
Me and my husband both worked and I had my third one at 19, and my last one at 21. I began college once all my kids were in school and got EMT certified. So no matter what happens in life, just deal with them and the worst things in life just make you a stronger person. Interview 2 Interviewer: How do you think teenage pregnancy affected or changed your life?
Chrissy: Well first I can say that I came from a home where my parents were married but my mom’s husband was not my biological father, he was my step dad, so I never experienced firsthand a father figure in my childhood, because of this I stayed away and limited my conversations with my mother, never telling her the things I realized she needed to know; for example my first crush on a boy in high school and how that day was exciting as well as bittersweet in a way; or the tingle in my breast when I watch certain programs, all these things I refused to discuss with my mother because she was not understanding to my feelings.
I feared her more and this caused me to put all of my trust into my boyfriend James, who said all the right things I needed to hear at the time and made me smile. Because of this I rewarded him with sexual pleasures, which resulted in pregnancy. Interviewer: What was it like to become a mother in your early teens? Chrissy: I was excited because now I thought I found true love and I had everything I could possibly want and need. Then the baby came and it changed everything, my boyfriend of six years no longer wanted to be with me; he left me having to defend for myself and my baby.
At first it was hard but eventually I was able to go back to school and get a job good enough to provide for me and my child. Being a single parent can be hard at times but I won’t change this experience with my child for the world. It taught me to be the best parent I can be both financially and mentally. Interview 3 Interviewer: Why do most females get pregnant? Sharell: I don’t think that they wanted to get pregnant. In my case I did not want to get pregnant, I was just caught up in the moment. Meeting someone who convinced you that they loved you, and then the next thing that happened was we had a baby.
Instead of waiting on marriage we were caught up in the moment, having shared each other viewpoints we explored areas that should have been left for marriage. Interviewer: What seems to you has been the best time to have a baby? Sharell: Well having been married, with a secure environment I would say, one can be ready to have children. Unfortunately we got married and we were still divorced after a few years. I say this to say because of the baby my time was spent with the child instead of with my husband who eventually felt neglected.
He started seeing another woman and left me. This taught me a valuable lesson that we can make mistakes that can change our lives forever and so if you are fortunate and your partner marries you balance your relationship with motherhood. I see being a mother as a job if I wasn’t a mom I don’t think I’d even have a job so it was probably a good decision for me personally. Interview 4 Interviewer: Hello Jennifer, what can you tell me about your teenage pregnancy and how you learned all the ups and downs it may come with?
Jennifer: Well for one there’s a reason why the bible states that marriages are Gods intention between a man and a woman, because two heads are certainly better than one, with my situation I grew up in a foster home, never knew my biological mother or father, and lived with an aunt who was not very nice and loving to me. So I meet a guy who seemed to fill all of the above i thought I was missing. We started living together, not married and eventually I became pregnant. Interviewer: What was it like to become a mother in your early twenties?
Jennifer: Children where two parents are present and they can definitely share the responsibility of raising children together, I being a single parent is hard, children need support, love comfort, food and clothes and we as parents have to provide these things. Being single you may and will lack in one of these areas. So growing up children in a nuclear family home for me is more secure than a single household. CONCLUSION We hear the saying that wisdom comes with age, or that age is nothing but a number, be it as it may today teenage pregnancy is ramped in society and as heard in all the interviews, there are a number of reasons for this.
None of these teenagers were prepared, but each one of them was able to take their personal stories and talk about the good and bad. In the end each one of them has to live with whatever decisions they chose to make, and who are we to judge. Teenage pregnancy has different motivating factors. It is clear that each young parent thought that they had improved their lives by becoming independent, gaining a sense of purpose or even seizing chance to right the wrongs of their own childhood.
As a final point given the disadvantaged circumstances common to the majority of the ladies their decisions to become a teenage mother were seen by them to be reasonably rational. Pregnancy and parenthood offer these young women a chance to change their lives for the better. Unlike most alternative ways of changing their life, such as education, training or employment, pregnancy was seen as an option totally within their control. The majority said they were most adamant that pregnancy had been the right decision at this time in their life.