Teen pregnancy has always been common, up until the early 1900s, however, it has become something looked down upon. In the earlier days, it was common for a teenager to be childbearing. Now, in this day and age, teen parents, mostly mothers, are looked down upon, belittle, and some are even kicked out to be on their own with no help. The pressure and judgment females go through when they are pregnant can cause detrimental downfalls, emotionally, mentally, and physically. Safe Sex is not something naturally spoken of in a home to prevent teen pregnancies from happening. Most parents try to avoid the conversation with their child(ren), hoping they will not involve themselves in sexual activities until they are older. Without the knowledge of safe sex and being a parent, teen parents can go through major downfalls, for example, depression, lacking education, and as well as, not being financially stable to provide for themselves and their child. This affects communities all over, from grandparents to grandchild. Every family member is affected from the conceiving of a child is brought upon them.
Depression is a major downfall that a teen parent can go through. Statistics prove it is more likely for a teen parent to go through depression than a teenager without preparing to become a parent. Research suggests that childbearing causes psychological distress among teenagers. Having a baby at a young age even affects your social life, your personal life and communication skills. Childbearing pushes you away from people, being scared of judgment from peers and elders. In “Teen Pregnancy Issues and Challenges,” from the American Pregnancy Association, states “Many people say it is hard enough just being a teenager by itself – add in pregnancy and all that planning and preparing that comes with it, and it becomes even more challenging. Sometimes, “challenge” can be an understatement.” A teen parent being lost and lacking the knowledge of raising a child can put them in a hard place where they do not know if they want to keep their child, abort it, or put it up for adoption. The rate of teen pregnancy and depression are relating to the community in many ways. They distant the child from society and life in general.
With depression forcing its way through a teen parent, it would make it hard for a teen parent to continue their schooling to graduate. Jason M. Fletcher mentioned in his entry in Journal of Human Resources that most teen mothers do not graduate high school. It tends to be hard on a female to carry a child and make sure they stay on their school, while learning the basics of raising a child. Studies show “teenage childbearing likely reduces the probability of receiving a high school diploma by 5 to 10% points. ” During pregnancy you have to miss a certain amount of days in school causing them to get behind in classes, school work and other school activities. Catching up on missed work can be a hard task to do while getting items ready for a child and going through the pain of carrying a child. It can be uncomfortable being at school and trying to focus would be hard with a discomforting pain. It also increases the probability of receiving cash assistance and decrease years of schooling.
