Sexual Education And Teenage Pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy has always been a conflicting issue in our society, it is an issue that has evolved over the years and thankfully has the year continue it has been decreasing. There are various factors that affect such decline: teenagers getting more education when it comes to sex, diseases. Other factors are the harsh reality that today’s teens are facing and the increase of the educational system that allows teens to realize their true potential and keep them off sexual advances among each other.

Sexual education plays a huge role in today's decline in teenage pregnancy. The more the educated a teen is, the better. The location in which teens tend to get educated about safe sex tends to be school since they are easier to reach and easier to teach. There is a downside to this approach as presented by Barri B Burrus; “ Schoolbased programs provide an efficient way to reach large numbers of adolescents, but they may be less effective for gaining access to some groups of adolescents who are at higher risk,” (Para.

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3), Burrus continues by informing that the group at a higher risk are those that have already engaged in sexual activities, and those individuals are quite hard to get ahold of. Sexual education does bear results, more teenagers are aware of the many dangers of unprotected sex, especially when it comes to sexually transmitted diseases.

Scientist Laura Lindberg comments that one of the reasons as to why the pregnancy rate has been dwindling, she comments that after the HIV crisis, many schools started to teach about the disease and the consequences that it brings, this caused a chain reaction that diminished sexual intercourse among Americans and this reaction continued with the next generation and now with today's youth (Heller, page 36).

While many professionals agree that programs and other factors have led to an overall decrease, some indeed give credit to teenagers themselves. Many teens have turned to sexual abstinence, which is the act of refraining from sexual activities or any sort of sexual endevour, one of the main reasons as to why many teens are refraining from sex has to do with the educational programs that are presented to them, as it teaches them about the downsides of having children at such an early age, especially in the financial side of things. Another crucial factor is the abundance of information about contraceptive devices, the information is easy to obtain and that is actually helpful, unlike previous years, as the industries did not know how to appeal to teenagers (Blad, page 5). As observed an increased in sexual education leads to more responsible choices, and while there are groups that need to be attended, the majority of teenagers grasp the concept that being safe is necessary and should not be a burden. Teenage pregnancy has a huge toll on our society, especially on the economic side as the government has to create multiple programs in order to aid the affected individuals.

Carolyn Sprague reports “The total cost as estimated in the 2013 report was $9.4 billion, with an average annual cost to taxpayers of $1,682 per child until the age of fifteen. While this number is still quite high, it is lower than the amount estimated in the previous report due to the continuing decline in teen pregnancies” (Par. 9). Another issue that it presents is that it takes away key individuals away from key careers. When a pair of teens discover that they will be parents, their dream careers get put in-hold, as they will need to focus on the child that is coming, most couples tend to leave their education behind “Only half of teen moms earn a high school diploma by the time they reach age 22, compared to nearly 90 percent of women who do not give birth as teens. Also, less than 2 percent of teen moms earn a college degree by age 30” (Comlossy, page 30), such data proves concerning as our society is built around an education and at least a high school diploma. Without a diploma, the couple will not be able to find a decent job, that pays for their future home, their future bills and any other expenditure. The issue is that now that couple is going to need the aid from the government in order to sustain that kid, and when the number of couples rises, the more money will have to be used, tax money that could have been used on other issues that plague our society.