Teen Pregnancy In Canada Essay, Research Paper

In Every Country, in every city teenage girls and boys face parenthood. These parents to be must grow up quickly in order to face the harsh realities of becoming a parent. Many teens don t know the history of teen pregnancy, the effects it has on society, the stress of becoming a parent, ways to solve the problem or even where to get help. The journey to parenthood is hard to avoid once it has taken the first steps forward.

For many hundreds of years teen pregnancy was not problem as children as young as nine were married and had their first born shortly after they were mature enough. There was a problem though with any woman having children while not married, it was considered a sin. # In resent years teen pregnancy has been on the rise, the national average of teen pregnancy including abortions is 48.8 %. This is up 2% from 1996. # Teen pregnancy has an effect on the person or people it comes into direct contact with but also on society it s self.

The affects which teen pregnancy has on society is very great. Teen pregnancy effects the social institutions and assistance that was put in place to help people. With teen pregnancy on the rise these institutions are often called upon for money or assistance. Many cannot afford to have children and go on social assistance or welfare in order to raise their children. This is where poverty comes into play, and more often than not the cycle repeats it s self. Due to lack of knowledge. #

Society also looks down upon these children having children. Most people see these unfortunate teens as tramps and much worse because of one mistake. Also many think that the teens will raise their children in bad conditions and in poverty, this is not always the case. Due to the way society sees these teens many are afraid to ask for help, scared that they will be turned away and looked down upon.

The stress that is brought on by pregnancy can be overwhelming to anyone let alone a teen. These teens go through at least three of the following emotions; disbelief, fear, happiness, guilt or isolation. # These emotions are hard to deal with and often these

young parents don t know how to handle them. Many of them have to deal with them on their own.# This can be one of the hardest things to do.

Teens also struggle to find ways to tell their parents or care givers. Many feel that their parents will angry or worse yet disown them. They may be angry with their children but in the end most come around and offer their support.# For teens who don t have support there are programs that will help them, they will find them places to live to get work and soon.

Another problem is money, it takes alot of money to raise a baby and many teens can not afford to this alone. There are times when I can t even afford to feed myself. All my money goes into my baby. Heather Kentill. Many teen mothers and fathers go hungry trying to get the best for their children and often they themselves pay the ultimate price. They pay the price by doing things may not usually do in order to feed themselves or their children, some resort to theft so they can at least put something on the table.#

The first step to solving teen pregnancy is not to be ignorant, because it can happen to anyone, at any given time. Ignorance is the first step towards the problem at hand. # One of things that will help solve the problem is knowing about prevention and how to avoid certain circumstances, which may lead to the problem. Many schools teach classes on sexual health and prevention, and this has brought some awareness to students. There are prevention methods, which are available to everyone. These prevention methods are known as birth control. One of these is abstainance, which is not having sexual intercourse. This is the best method of birth control. Other prevention methods condoms, spermicides and jellies and the birth control pill (bcp). The only problem with these methods are that they all have a small failure margin. There is only one method that can be completely reliable and that is abstainance which has no failure rate at all.# One of the other things that will help solve the problem is understanding.

There are many clinics which offer help to teens who are faced with pregnancy, or teens who would just like to talk and learn how to prevent pregnancy. Many teens prefer to go to their family doctor instead of a stranger. There are also many programs in place to help teens earn money for raising their children or agencies which will help aid them with money, clothes, baby food and diapers.# The best place to go for help is to your family as they may be more help to you than some agency.

For many teens this is a reality a life they live. Many of these teens aren t educated properly in the history of teen pregnancy, the way it effects society, the stress of an unwanted pregnancy, prevention methods, how to solve the problem or even where they can go for help. With more education programs available to teens it should hopefully bring the teen pregnancy rate down to a minimum over the coming years.