Youth in Poverty Teenage Pregnancy

1
Youth in Poverty Teenage Pregnancy

• Division of labor
• Janna interview with Jennifer,
  surveys,sources-Maja Bechstorm.
• Ann interview with Maggie, surveys,
  sources-Marianne E. Felize.
• Sani surveys,PowerPoint,sources-Isabel V.
  Sawhill.
• Alex surveys, sources-Benjamin Cardin and Margi
  Trapani.
• Submitted to
• Adolescents Parents
• November 27,2001

2
The purpose of this report

• This paper is to inform teens and their
  parents
• on what makes teen pregnancy and youth in
• poverty such a serious issue.
• The purpose of this report
• Inform the audience of how real teenage pregnancy
  is in you society.
• Make you aware of what is going on in teen lives.
• We will explain the effects of having a child
  at a young age and also how this effects society
  as a whole. We constructed a survey of 8
  questions that we distributed to 20 randomly
  chosen high school students.

3
Methods

• 8 questions survey given to 20 randomly chosen
  high school students.
• 2 personal interviews of teenage mothers.
• Collected information from the internet,
  newspapers and reproductive health centers.

4
Result and Discussion

• Parents shouldnt condemn their children for
  wanting contraceptives.
• Youth in poverty starts with young mother having
  unwanted babies. Author Isabel Sawhill states in
  the Congressional Testimonyin June of 1999 that
  teen pregnancy rates in the United States have
  risen to their highest point since the 1970s.
  These rates have been declining over the past few
  years since the early 1990s. The articleTeen
  Sex Trends explains that, Increased abstinence
  and contraceptive use (along with improved
  contraceptive methods) are key factors in the
  recent decline in teen pregnancy. The article
  also states that there has an increase in the use
  of contraceptives throughout the years,but the
  teen need to learn of these before it is too
  late.
• One teen mother,Jennifer,explained to us once
  that she was on the birth control pill when she
  first became sexually active. When her mother
  learned she was on the pill she was shocked,
  especially to find that her daughter was sexually
  active. Jennifer was scare by her mothers
  reaction and went off the pill immediately. Today
  she is a teenage mom. Jennifer's mom regrets
  not handling the situation with her daughter
  differently and knows that it would have
  prevented the entire situation from happening.

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Do the teen pregnancies run the family?

• Teen pregnancies also tend to run in the
• family in a lot of cases. Jennifer in the
  
• previous example was conceived by teenage
• parents. Marianne E Felice, M.D states in
  the
• articleCampaign For Our Children the,
• The children of adolescent mothers are at
  increased
• risk for being a teen parent themselves.
  This young mother is harmful to society because
  she causes a cycle to appear generation to
  generation. The problem doesn't only lie with
  teen girls but also teen boys. Chad got his
  girlfriend pregnant and now has no part in her
  life or the life of his baby. Chad was raised
  by his grandmother and was never brought up
  learning about the consequences of being sexually
  active. These children need help and should be
  taught early in life of these consequences to
  help prevent this cycle.

6
Can you be an adult before being a teen?

• In Sawhills article Non-Martial Births and
  Child Poverty
• in the United States she explains how
  these programs
• benefits teen parents.There are programs
  available to
• teenage parents to help them center goals
  for their future,
• raise their self-esteem,educates the
  parents in the needs of
• their children, and make sure the parents
  will be able to work in the future. This helps to
  ensure these teens will become productive adults
  in our communities. This not only helps to
  prevent these teens from having other children
  until they are more stable. These programs may
  also help to break the cycle of adolescent
  pregnancy. This turn will help to reduce the
  level of youth in poverty. The goal should focus
  on helping to create a better future for not
  only our children, but also out childrens
  children. A minor thing both the girls brought to
  our attention was how their high school dreams
  and the dreams for their future withered away
  after having a baby .

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what are the Solutions ??

• Inform children about sex education ,also the
  consequences.
• Make teen pregnancy seem real to teens.
• Make contraceptives and birth control more
  readily available to teens.
• We cant make it seem like its suchbadthing
  for them to obtain.
• The best solution is to talk to the teens,
  parents, teacher, and friends. The more these
  teens know about the prevention methods of
  pregnancy and the consequences, the less likely
  they will become teen parents and youth in
  poverty.

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Recommendation

• We recommend that parents talk to their children
  about sex. It has gone on as theunspoken truth
  for so long. Children are having sex therefore
  children are having babies. We need to make
  protection more readily accessible and encourage
  teens to use contraceptives instead of being
  disappointed because of the fact that your child
  is sexually active.

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• Symbolic Interaction.
  Structural Functionalism.
• 1. A teen mother acts as a student when.
  1. Manifest Function.
• A school and as a mother when at home.
  The teen learns responsibility.
• Caring for her child.
  The teen set an example for
  other.
• 2. Social Exchange.
  Teens to not have children at
  an early age.
• A teen mother gets major assistance such
  2. Latent Function.
• as welfare,WIC,etc. in exchange for being.
  Teen are forced to grow up fast and lose
  their.
• a parent at such a young age.
  childhood.
• 
  3. Social
  Dysfunction.
• 
  parents and
  families of teen suffer.
• 
  Teens child may
  follow in mothers foot.
• 
  steps
  (generation to generation).
• Social conflict.

10
Evaluation Survey

• Most high school students are having sex?
  Agree/disagree
• At least 50 of these students are using
  protection? Agree/Disagree
• Do you know anyone under 18 who have a child or
  are expecting a child? Yes/No
• Does this person take care of their child at
  least 50 of the time? Yes/No
• Is this person still with the father or mother of
  the child? Yes/No
• Is this person still living at home? Yes/No
• Would consider yourself to be emotionally ready
  to have a child? Yes/No
• Would you consider yourself to be financially
  ready to have a child? Yes/No

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Need to know Terminologyjust in case

• Poverty the state of one who lacks a usual or
  socially acceptable amount of money or material
  possessions.
• Abstinence-the act or practice of abstaining from
  sexual activities.
• Contraceptives-methods to deliberately prevent
  conception or impregnation.

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Bibliography

• A National Strategy To Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
  Annual Report 1997-1998.US Department of Health
  Services. June 1998.http//aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/teenp/
  97-98rpt.htm.
• Bechstorm, Maja.Racial pregnancy gap baffles
  health officials St. Paul Pioneer Press 19 Sept.
  1999 Late ed. A1.
• Cardin, Benjamin. Reducing Teen Pregnancy. FDCH
  Congressional Testimony 15 Nov. 2001
• Felice, Marianne E. Facts, Fingers,
  Statistics.Campaign For Our Children 1999
  lthttp//www.cfoc.org.statsfactsheet.html
• Jennifer. Personal interview. 10 Nov. 2001
• Maggie. Personal interview .8 Nov.2001
• Sawhill, Isabel V.Non-Marital Birth and Child
  Poverty in the United States. Congressional
  Testimony 24 pars. 29 June 1999
  lthttp//www.brook.edu/views/testimony/sawhill/1999
  0629.htm.
• Teen Sex Trends.The Futurist Sept-Oct 200 7.
• Trapani, Margi. Listen up! teenage mothers speak
  out. New York The Rosen Pub. Group, 1997