Teenage Pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy continues to be an issue even though numbers of occurrences have seemed to decrease. People continue to wonder why a teenager would put themselves in this situation. Schools provide some idea on what happens when you have unprotected sex, yet others feel it is the parent of teen that should offer more guidance to encourage their teenager to wait before engaging in sexual activity. Is enough being done to discourage teens from engaging sex and is there something teens should do besides abstaining from sex to reduce teen pregnancy risk?

Parents should discuss with their child consequences of sexual behavior. Many may argue at what age this talk should occur in order to avoid teen pregnancies from occurring. Parents have the discretion of deciding when to discuss sex with their teen. Yet, some parents are pretty anxious to have this conversation because they know what it is like to be a teen parent. Or, they remember being a teenager with ranging hormones and want to avoid their teen making the same mistake they did. When more parents step up to the plate and talk to their teen about sex, they could help reduce teen pregnancy rates.

What should teenagers do to reduce their risk besides not having sex? There are too many teen parents that say they wish they could take back what they did. In most cases it only takes one time for you to get pregnant. There are teen girls that get pregnant and end up taking care of their child on their own because the teen father wants nothing to do with the child. When you get pregnant and have a child it is your responsibility. Some teens feel they have thrown their teenage years away. A number of teen fathers still want to enjoy their time as a teen and feel walking away from responsibilities of a teen parent lets them enjoy freedom.

Teenagers can help themselves be looking at ways to stay abstinent. There are groups for teens that support no sex activity. You can take time to learn about teen pregnancy rates and learn about the pregnancy process. Children cost a lot of money and time. If you know you are not ready for the responsibility don’t allow yourself to be in such situations that set you up for it. Take your time enjoying yourself and working toward career goals first.