Society against Teens

Teen pregnancy is a very common occurrence in past years. Many girls from roughly the age of fifth-teen to the age of nineteen get pregnant. As teen moms try and decide the right choice for them and their child, many of them received criticism from others (mainly adults). During the pregnancy, teens have many obstacles to overcome and deal with. Receiving the criticism from others does not help make their situation any less challenging. As many teens throughout the United States are getting pregnant, they have to deal with the disappointment of not having enough support, making decisions for themselves and the child, and the emotional distress of being a teenage mother.

As many young women have to hear others criticism, whether it is through social media or in everyday life, it affects their feelings and mentality. Having to hear others’ opinions and having no hope for their future causes a large effect on the young woman. People often tend to get the impression that since a young woman got pregnant, her immediate reaction will be to dropout of high school and no longer advance in her education. Very few teen mothers continue their education after they get pregnant, as it is the first reason that many do stop their education at high school level (Teens as Parents). While many individuals say this, but do not encourage them to get an education, instead they tend to negatively speak their opinions; therefore, many do not proceed due to the lack of support. Teens that do get pregnant in only thirty eight percent of them do graduate high school (Alters).

Also, less than two percent of teen moms that do get a high school degree carry on to go and receive a college degree (Teens as Parents). As the teen mother makes her decision, such as abortion, adoption, or keeping the child leads to the country’s tax payers criticism. If adoption is the outcome, and the child goes into the system the taxpayers’ money goes towards that, as well as adoption. If the mother cannot provide the right care for the child and welfare is the outcome, that also results in receiving money from the state. Not only do teen mothers obtain criticism from taxpayers, they experience it from the overall public and organization. “The state of New York launched a campaign in 2013 using shame to try and reduce teen pregnancy rates” (Teens as Parents). While many say that schools have great support systems, such as teachers, guidance counselors, and principals, there is a large lack in support regarding the teen mothers. Sex education is taught at vast amount of schools across the United States, the school system mainly teaches to avoid having sex and that abstinence is the best answer; however, they do not teach what to do in the case that the teen did indeed get pregnant. Not only do they not guide the teens in help of their comfort, they lack the support that the teens require.

As teen pregnancy is a life changing matter, this requires the mother to make a decision that will affect the rest of her life. The stress that is already occurring while dealing with the pregnancy gets more added to it as a result of having to make the decision on whether to keep the child or not. While most do keep the child after birth, some do choose adoption for the future of their child. Two to three percent of teens end up deciding adoption is ultimately the best option for them (Alpern). If the parents opt for adoption, it is in their best interest to find the adoptive parents as soon as they can, to ensure the child has parents and does not wind up in the system. With adoption, after the birth of the child the parents give the child to the legal parents, and regarding the birth parents rights to see the child is based on whether the adoptions is a closed or open. If the terms of the adoption are open, the birth parents have the rights to seek communication with the child if they would like to; however in the opposing decision, in a closed adoption all communication with the child is restricted and the birth parents do not know the parents that are adopting. A very small amount of teens wind up deciding adoption, abortion is a much more common occurrence, as forty percent of teens that get pregnant proceed with that outcome (Alpern).

However, if the mother is under the age of 18, a parent’s consent is required. As most parents choose abortion for their pregnant teen if rape has occured, to protect her further (Alters). The most common type of abortion is the suction that has to be performed in the first twelve weeks of the pregnancy. However, the other process can be performed between twelve and twenty-four weeks, but it is a slightly more challenging and costly procedure. Abortions in most states across the United States are illegal after twenty weeks. Abortion also does not have any impact on the outcome of getting pregnant in the future. The most common decision that the teens will make is to keep and raise the child with the support of family members or the other parent, as more than half of pregnant teens do ultimately decide to keep the child.

Emotions occur with everyday life and life challenging events, during pregnancy emotions are heightened, along with the stress the mothers have to experience. Having to make very important decisions regarding the future such as adoption, abortion, or even raising the child is going to have emotions with the decision. Many that choose adoption, feel as if the child will feel that they were unwanted and worthless which leads to the mother to be left with regret and guilt. As guilt comes with any given choice, it is more likely to occur when the teen choices to abort the pregnancy along with feeling distraught about the decision. After the abortion is performed, many suggest therapy and to be surrounded with the support of family members or close friends. The emotional toll that these decisions have on the teen mothers are more common than most would think, as many teens have to have a large amount of support to feel recovered. As the teen goes through the pregnancy it is common that there are changes to their emotions, personalities, and their mental stability (Trad). The feeling of body control may decrease and the amount of anxiety, depression, and fear may heighten. With all of the emotional changes could even cause damages with the connection involving the mother and her child (Trad).

As many teens are getting pregnant, many have to overcome the challenges that concur with the pregnancy. While many criticism and opinion have an influence on the teens emotions, and the lack of support they receive throughout the pregnancy. Teens are forced to make executive choices that will affect their whole future as well as the child's, as well as the emotional distress that these choices will later on cause the teen. The lack of support that teens receive throughout the whole pregnancy is very much disappointing and needs to be changed.

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