There should be a law prohibiting teenage pregnancy.\u00a0 It would be impossible to make such a law, since the country\u2019s prisons would be filled with fifteen year-old-mothers. A law should, however, be made requiring mandatory child development and parenting classes before high school graduation. The statistics concerning teenage pregnancy are frightening.\u00a0 One teenager each minute becomes pregnant, in 2004 420,000 babies were born to teenage mother in the United States, and 67% of teenage mothers drop out of high school (Horizon Solutions, 2006).
\nThree out of ten girls get pregnant before the age of twenty at an average of 750,000 girls per year (National Campaign, 2006). Girls as young as thirteen are becoming parents and often with no support from the equally young and inexperienced fathers.\u00a0 The grandparents are then either forced to raise their grandchildren or the young unprepared girls are forced to give up their future plans to become parents much too early.\u00a0Most schools in the nation currently offer child development and parenting classes as electives for those who are interested in childcare.\u00a0 Since most young teenagers will eventually become parents, however, it should be mandatory to prepare them for their future roles.
\nMost public schools in the United States teach sexual education, which includes ways to prevent pregnancy.\u00a0 Unfortunately, this has not significantly decreased the occurrences of teenage pregnancy.\u00a0 When compared to the statistics of teenagers in other countries the united States ranks high in the number of pregnancies, because of the differences in how teenagers are prepared for parenting and the expectations for them (Guttmacher).\u00a0 Part of the differences are that the young people in other countries are not taught to be ashamed to admit to having sex and are taught to be more responsible about preventing pregnancy.\u00a0 In this country many adults are uncomfortable talking to their children about sex (Coloroso 228). The better young people are educated about and prepared for male-female relationships in early adolescence the less likely they are to give in to peer pressure (Campbell 51).<\/p>\n
In most schools, no student can graduate without learning about American History, government, English or science.\u00a0 Students are taught how to have children and usually how to prevent it, but it is not required for them to learn how to care for the children after they have them.\u00a0 Unless they come from large families, many young people have no idea how much responsibility is required in caring for an infant.\u00a0 If they did, maybe they would take more precautions to avoid this until they were ready for the responsibility.\u00a0 If a law was made to make it mandatory for all freshman high school students to take child development and parenting classes, all teenagers would have a better understanding of the responsibilities involved.\u00a0 This would make them more likely to take better precautions to avoid teenage pregnancy.
\nParenting is not easy at any age, but when parenting is combined with dating, and trying to finish high school, it can be overwhelming.\u00a0 When young girls discover they are about to become a parent, they can go through a range of emotions.\u00a0 Some do not want to take on the responsibility of parenting.\u00a0 These girls are faced with the difficult choice of abortion or adoption.\u00a0 If she chooses to put her child up for adoption, she and the father both have to sign their parental rights over to the adoptive parents (Gay 6).\u00a0\u00a0 Some of the girls feel happy about having a baby they may see it as playing house or as an accomplishment (American Academy, 2004).\u00a0 These girls have no real idea how much responsibility is involved in caring for infants.\u00a0 They often like the idea of caring for someone.
\nThe problem is the people who are currently taking the elective parenting courses are usually the ones who know something about caring for infants and are interested in the subject.\u00a0 These people already know a little of the responsibility and often are the ones least likely to be teen parents. By making the classes mandatory, those who think it is like playing house or have no idea about babies will get more information.\u00a0 Many of these classes teach students what to expect throughout the first few years of life.\u00a0 Infants especially in the first weeks of life need very much of the parent\u2019s time and can be exhausting, and they cry a great deal (Preston 11). \u00a0The average day in the life of a mother with an infant consists of waking at approximately 3:00 a.m. and getting very little rest until late the next night.
\n\u00a0 It involves diaper changes, feedings and constant attention to someone helpless and fragile (O\u2019Callahan 66). When the young people actually begin to realize what life is like for a parent, they can see the consequences of being careless in sexual relationships.\u00a0 In recent years a new trend has become part of child development class.\u00a0 Many schools have started using programmable dolls, which cry during the night, need changed, fed and held.\u00a0 These dolls are amazingly lifelike and can provide young people an idea of what it is really like to be a parent (Memorial Community, n.d.). Teaching young people what parenting is like is sometimes more effective than teaching them methods of birth control or about the risks of disease.\u00a0 In addition to the dolls, child development and parenting courses teach young people how to cope when they do have children.
\nThe good news is the message is getting out.\u00a0 The number of teenagers age fifteen to nineteen who have reported having sex has decreased by just over 13% since 1991 and the number of teen pregnancies has dropped by 36% in the same amount of time (National Campaign, 2006).\u00a0 There was a trend in the country for a while where teens were not afraid for parents to know they were having sex, but they did not have enough facts to keep from getting pregnant.\u00a0 With the increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases, the education about the use of contraception has helped teenagers become more responsible about using birth control to avoid disease and thus pregnancy.
\nIf all school districts were mandated to require these classes using the teaching dolls and statistics as a requirement for graduation like they do math and science, students might have a better knowledge of what it takes to be parents.\u00a0 This would help them know they wanted to wait until they were ready to have children.\u00a0 It could teach them the financial, emotional and physical requirements involved in having and raising children.\u00a0 Education is the key to knowledge and knowledge is required to make responsible choices.\u00a0 In order to teach the teenagers in the United States to make responsible choices, there needs to be a law requiring the system to educate them.
\nWorks Cited
\nCampbell, Dr. Ross. How to Really Love Your Child. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1988
\nColoroso, Barbara. Kids Are Worth It. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.,
\n1994
\nGay, Kathlyn. Abortion Understanding the Debate. Berkeley Heights: Enslow Publishers,
\nInc., 2004
\n\u201cMCH Foundation Partners With Schools to Provide \u201cBaby Think it Over\u201d Dolls.\u201d
\nMemorial Community Hospital and Health System, 1 May 2007
\nhttp:\/\/www.mchhs.org\/news\/BabyThinkitOver.htm
\nPreston, Penny. What Every Mother Needs to Know About Her Baby\u2019s First Year.
\nPortland, Maine: Ronnie Sellers Productions, Inc. 2006
\n\u201cReality Works Infant Simulator and Real Care Parenting Program.\u201d 18 September 2006
\nHorizon Solutions Site, 1 May 2007http:\/\/www.solutions-site.org\/artman\/publish\/article_47.shtml
\nO\u2019Callahan, Kitty. \u201cA Day in the Life of a Mom.\u201d Baby Talk September 2005: 66-7
\n\u201cSex Education: Needs, Programs and Policies.\u201dDecember2006.TheGuttmacher Institute
\n1 May 2007 <http:\/\/www.guttmacher.org\/presentations\/sex_ed.pdf>
\nThe National Organization to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. 1 May 2007.
\n<http.www.teenpregnancy.org>
\n\u201cWhen Children Have Children.\u201d July 2004, American Academy of Child and
\nAdolescent Psychiatry, 1 May 2007 <http:\/\/www.aacap.org\/page.ww?name =When+Children+Have+Childrension=Facts+For+Families><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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