Research Fun!

Just another Edublogs.org weblog

Reserch Project Paper

Post on June 12th, 2008 by stsara

 

 

Many teens first reaction to the news is “I never thought this could happen to me”. Being a teen comes with the idea that you are invincible and that there are no negative consequences for your actions. With ideas such as these and lack of sexual education, 3 in 10 teenage girls under the age of 20 will get pregnant a year.

 ”When a mommy and daddy love each other very much…” The story of love, weddings and the stork is probably how many parents explained sex to a child. Now that they are older, teens have forgotten the way the story went. Peer pressure and desire for acceptance have overwhelmed many teens to turn in many directions Using drugs and alcohol impair judgment and may lead to sexual activites.20% 15-17 yr olds admit to being sexual while being drunk or high. They also admit that they wouldn’t have done sexual things if they were sober. Many teens may also believe that everyone is “Doing It” when the fact of the matter is less than one-half of high school students are sexually active. Some are active some are not, some may just be lying. 75% of teens say they are not embarrassed to admit that they are virgins.

There are many risks in being a teen mother; the risks are not only for the mother, but for the newborn as well. Teen mothers are more likely to have an unhealthy life style compared to mothers over 20.The major factors are smoking, drinking, bad diets and using drugs. According to the March of dimes “…14.2 percent of pregnant teens ages 15 to 19 smoked, compared to 10.2 of all pregnant women”. Smoking increases the risks of premature births, low birth weights and stillbirths. Teen mothers are also at risk of contracting STD’s such as, Chlamydia, Syphilis and HIV/AIDS. Chlamydia may cause sterility; Syphilis may cause blindness in newborns or can result in maternal and/or infant death: Mothers with HIV/AIDS run the risk of infecting the newborn (treatment during pregnancy greatly reduces the risk).

There are many health risks for the babies born of teen mothers. Babies born of mothers under their twenties and thirties are more likely to die in the first year of their lives. The march of dimes has provided statistics on risks, such as: 

·        In 2004, 17.1 out of every 1,000 babies of women under age 15 died, compared to 6.8 per 1,000 for babies of women of all ages

·        In 2004, 9.9 percent of mothers’ ages 15 to 19 years had a low-birth weight baby, compared to 8.1 percent for mothers of all ages.

·        11.6 percent of 15-year-old mothers had a low-birth weight baby in 2004; 18,274 babies were born to girls this age, with 2,124 of low birth weight

·        9.4 percent of women aged 19 had a low-birth weight baby in 2004; 164,045 babies were born to these women, with 15,376 of low birth weight

 Risks for teens under the age of 15 are even greater for pregnancy complications, which include premature labor, anemia and high blood pressure. Babies that are born with low birth weight are likely to have organs that may not be fully developed at the time of birth. They run the risk of having respiratory distress syndrome, bleeding in the brain, loss of vision and serious intestinal problems. Babies that are born less than 31/3 pounds are nearly 100 times are more likely to die and babies that are born between 3 1/3lbs- 51/2 lbs are more than 5 times likely to die in their first year.

The teen pregnancies do not only affect the health of the mother and child but the society as well. Teen mothers are more likely to drop out of high school. As reported by the march of dimes: “Only 40 percent of teenagers who have children before age 18 go on to graduate from high school, compared to 75 percent of teens from similar social and economic backgrounds who do not give birth until ages 20 or 21”. With the lack of education, teen mothers do not have all the opportunities in the work force. As a result, 75% percent of teen mothers will be dependent on welfare before within the first five years of their first born. 9% of children born to women over 20 (and married) will live in poverty, but 78% of children born to unmarried teen mothers will live in poverty. 50% of children of teen mothers run the risk of repeating a grade and they are more likely to not do well on standardized tests. They will also more likely repeat the cycle and drop out of high school as well. Girls born of teen mothers are 22% more likely to become teen mothers and sons of teen mothers will most likely end up in jail. Also less than 8% of teen fathers will marry their baby’s mother.

            Who’s to blame? Some may blame the teen mothers and/or fathers for their own mistakes. But they are not the only ones who have contributed to this epidemic. According to Dekalballiance.org, four major conditions that contribute to teenagers pregnancies are:

·        Economically disadvantaged family and communities

·        Teens who do not do well in school and have low aspirations for their own educational achievement

·        Teens who come from dysfunctional families

·        Teens with substance abuse and behavioral problems.

Another contribution is the lack in Sexual Education. Even thought most of Americans believe that Sex Ed should be taught in schools, there is still a major debate on what should be taught. Parents’ debate about whether to teaching children about contraception or simply abstinence based programs. “If I talk about contraception and condoms, my kids will think I support them having sex before marriage.” This is the idea that many parents have had. When in the long run there has been no evidence to show that teaching about contraception has increased sexual activities. The result is the opposite; there has been a 55% drop in teen pregnancies and a significant delay in the onset of sexual intercourse because of contraception use education. But the truth is that parents must also be in contact with their children and try to teach them what is wrong and right. They should not have a fear of pushing teens into being sexually active but teach them about being safe if they choose to engage in sex. Many teens want their parents to talk to them. Many parents want to wait but it may be too late because 6 in 10 teens wished they waited longer

 

 

Category Uncategorized | No Comments →

Teen Issues

Post on June 5th, 2008 by stsara

http://www.teenbreaks.com/confidence/confidencehome.cfm

Category Uncategorized | No Comments →

U.S. Teen Pregnancy Statistics (national and state trends) link

Post on June 5th, 2008 by stsara

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/09/12/USTPstats.pdf

Category Uncategorized | No Comments →

True stories link

Post on May 29th, 2008 by stsara

http://www.gravityteen.com/pregnancy/btdt/beenthere.cfm

Category Uncategorized | No Comments →

More Facts

Post on May 29th, 2008 by stsara

  • 3 in 10 teens get pregnant at least one before the age of 20 (750000 eh yr)
  •  
  • Nearly 80% of fathers born to teen mothers do not marry thier child’s mother
  •  
  • 20% 15-17 yr olds admit to doing sexual things while being Druck or HIgh. they admit that they wouldn’t have done if they were sober
  •  
  • 75% of teens say it is not embarrassing for teens to admit they are virgins

 

  • In 2002, an estimated 757,000 pregnancies among teenagers ages 15–19 resulted in 425,000 live births, 215,000 induced abortions, and 117,000 fetal losses.
  • The estimated pregnancy rate for young teenagers ages 15–17 fell from 77.1 per 1,000 in 1990 to 44.4 per 1,000 in 2002, a 42% drop.
  • The rate for older teenagers declined more modestly, falling 25% from 167.7 per 1,000 in 1990 to 125.0 per 1,000 in 2002.
  • Pregnancy rates for both age groups in 2002 are record lows for the nation since these rates began being collected in 1976 .

To View this Resource: www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/teenpreg1990-2002/teenpreg1990-2002.htm

  • Among black women ages 15–19, the nationwide pregnancy rate fell by 40% between 1990 and 2002.
  • Among white women ages 15–19, the nationwide pregnancy rate fell by 34% between 1990 and 2002.
  • Among Hispanic women ages 15–19, the pregnancy rate increased slightly from 1991–1992, but by 2002 was 19% lower than the 1990 rate.

To View this Resource: www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/09/12/USTPstats.pdf

 

  • Black women have the highest teen pregnancy rate (134 per 1,000 women ages 15–19), followed by Hispanics (131 per 1,000) and non-Hispanic whites (48 per 1,000).
  • The pregnancy rate among black teens decreased 40% between 1990 and 2000 compared to an overall national decline in teen pregnancy rate of 36%.

To View this Resource: www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_ATSRH.html

The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world. Teen pregnancy costs the United States at least $7 billion annually.

 

The fact that just under 1/3 of all girls in the United States will get pregnant in their teenage years is a sobering thought. Obviously, teen pregnancy is a problem in the United States. And the following statistics back that up: 

  • Every year around 750,000 teenagers will get pregnant. 
  • Depending on the state, teenage birth rates are incredibly different. Nevada has the highest rate: 113 per 1000 and North Dakota the lowest 42 per 1000. 
  • Unmarried teenagers having children account for 24 percent of all unmarried expectant mothers. 
  • More than 2/3 of all teenagers who have a baby will not graduate from high school. 
  • Billions of dollars are spent taking care of teenage mothers and their children and they are more likely to be in the poverty bracket. On the flip side, millions of dollars are spent in prevention programs.

The good news is that teen births have dropped by almost a third since the beginning of the 1990s. With pregnancy prevention programs and more understanding and teaching about safe sex, this number will hopefully drop even more. Here are a few other statistics that hopefully point to even better prevention rates in the years to come: 

  • In 2002 the abortion rate among teenager mother was 50 percent lower than its high point in 1988. 
  • Among black teenagers, the pregnancy rate dropped around 40 percent since 1990. 
  • Among Hispanic teenagers the pregnancy rate dropped around 19 percent since 1990. 
  • Among white teenagers, the pregnancy rate dropped around 34 percent since 1990.

So while teenager pregnancies are dropping, it is still a constant problem as there are more and more kids who enter their teenager years each year. Teenager pregnancy programs are important to as the above statistics are showing that these programs yield good results. These programs should be continually studied to make sure they are up-to-date and working in the education of teenagers on the problems of teenager pregnancy.

One way of making sure to keep the programs fresh is to talk with the teenagers themselves, asking what they think about sex and how it is portrayed in their school life, by their friends, in their families, and in the media. How much do each of these contribute to how a teenager views sex? Parents and educators are in a position to somewhat monitor how sex and especially unsafe sex is being digested by the teenagers today. As more questions are answered and prevention programs initiated and/or updated, hopefully these statistics can continually to fall.

As mentioned above, billions of dollars are spent taking care of teenage mothers and their children while only millions are needed to provide good prevention program. For more information on teenage pregnancy prevention, see the Preventing Teenage Pregnancy article on this site.

http://www.pregnantteenhelp.org/articles1.html

Category Uncategorized | No Comments →

March of Dimes Facts

Post on May 15th, 2008 by stsara

  • More than ten percent of all U.S. births in 2004 were to mothers under age 20 (1). Most teenage births (about 67 percent) are to girls ages 18 and 19 (1).
  • More than 750,000 teenagers become pregnant each year, and about 420,000 give birth (1, 3).
  • About 3 in 10 teenage girls become pregnant at least once before age 20 (2).
  • The teenage birth rate is declining. Between 1991 and 2004, the rate fell by one-third (from 61.8 per 1,000 women to 41.1) (1). Still, in 2004 (the most recent year for which data are available), about 4 teenage girls in 100 had a baby.
  • Between 22 and 30 percent of teen mothers under age 18 have a second baby within two years after the birth of their first baby (2).
  • Teen mothers are more likely than mothers over age 20 to give birth prematurely (before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy). Between 2002 and 2004, preterm birth rates averaged 14.3 percent for women under age 20 compared to 11.7 percent for women ages 20 to 29 (4). Babies born too soon face an increased risk of newborn health problems, long-term disabilities and even death.

    • Teenage Pregnancy. (2007, October). Retrieved May 15, 2008, from March of Dimes Web site: http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1159.asp

    Category Uncategorized | No Comments →