Teen Pregnancy it Is Now

Teen Pregnancy

It is now an established fact that teen pregnancy is a serious social problem which adversely affects the teenaged mothers, their children as well as the society in which they live. Although teenage pregnancy rates in the United States have fallen in recent years, they are still among the highest in the industrialized world ("Why it Matters?" 2007). Some people believe that early sex education or programs making birth control devices such as condoms available to school-age children, promotes sexual activity leading to increased teen pregnancy. In my opinion, this is a highly erroneous and misleading view as a comprehensive sex education program for the youth substantially decreases teen pregnancy. In this essay, I shall argue why I believe so and also discuss how the problem of teenage pregnancy can be tackled more effectively.

According to the United Nations' statistics, despite a noticeable decline by one-third in the 1990s, the U.S. teen birth rate in 2004 was 41.1 births per 1,000 teens aged 15-19. By way of comparison among developed countries, the U.S. teen birth rate is one and a half times higher than the teen birth rate in the United Kingdom (26.8 per 1,000) which has the highest teen birth rate in Europe; seven times higher than the teen birth rate in Japan (5.6 per 1,000), and more than nine times higher than in the Netherlands, which has a teen birth rate of just 4.6 per 1000 ("Teen Birth Rates," 2004). It is, therefore, obvious that the European countries with such drastically lower teen birth-rates must be doing something right.

Several research studies dispel the impression that sex education programs do not contribute to increased sexual activity. Kirby in a study titled Emerging answers: Research Findings on programs to reduce unwanted teenage pregnancy (2001), observes: "A large body of evaluation research clearly shows that sex and HIV education programs do not hasten the onset of sex, increase the frequency of sex, nor increase the number of sexual partners." (Kirby, 2001, p. 18) Hence, it is reasonable to assume that one of the key reasons behind the success of teen pregnancy control programs in Europe is the provision of medically accurate sexuality education. For example, in the Netherlands, where sexuality education begins in preschool and is integrated into all levels and subjects of schooling, the teen pregnancy rate is the lowest in the world ("Reducing Teenage Pregnancy," 2006). Similarly, the German sexuality education program for school-going children is comprehensive and targeted to meet the reading and developmental needs of the students. As a result, the teenage birth rate in Germany is more than four times lower than that of the U.S., and its overall AIDS rate is 11.5 times lower. Also, a national sexuality education program in France is mandatory for students aged 13 and above and the country has a teenage birth rate approximately six times lower than that of the U.S. (Ibid.)

On the other hand, sexual education programs in the United States are far-less comprehensive and lack focus. Furthermore, according to Planned Parenthood, an unrealistic emphasis is currently placed in the U.S. On "abstinence-only education" which overlooks the fact that sexual expression is an essential component of healthy human development. Such abstinence-only programs, with retrictive requirements such as parental consent for obtaining contraception that deny confidential access to family planning services to prevent pregnancy, tend to hinder a more effective prevention of teenage pregnancy ("Reducing Teenage Pregnancy" 2006). Moreover, an 'abstinence-only' education program is sometimes perceived by teenagers as providing one-sided and medically inaccurate information. (Studies by Kirby, 1997 and Huberman, quoted in "Reducing Teenage Pregnancy" 2006) shift in attitudes towards teenage sexuality must occur in the U.S. To facilitate the development of appropriate policies and programs to reduce teenage pregnancy. Presently, sexual activity, rather than the pregnancies that can result from it, is seen as the problem requiring intervention. Teaching young people that premarital sex is a moral failure does not prevent pregnancy -- studies show that those with fearful and negative attitudes about sexuality are less likely to use contraception when they have sex than those who believe they have a right to decide to have sex (Reiss, 1990).