Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Teen Parenting


                Teen parenting is something that a lot of people experience throughout their lifetime.  With teen parenting comes’ a lot of pros and cons, and a lot of life changes at a very young age. I have a personal experience with a few teen mothers, and have seen what they have had to go through to succeed and get through all of the different things they encountered throughout teen parenting. After taking some time to research teen parenting I have seen some pretty surprising facts and statistics from having teen parents.

                It has been proven that if you are a teen parent you are much less likely to graduate from high school, or get any type of college degree. The reason for this is because you become a parent in the middle of your education, you are unable to go to all of your classes and have to take a substantial amount of time off of school to be a mother and care for your new born baby. With the amount of time that you have to miss it is very difficult to catch back up in your classes in order to get grades that will allow you to pass high school. With all of these problem a lot of teens take the easiest way out and choose to drop out of high school, and not try again to get there diplomas.

                When becoming a parent at such a young age you are more likely to be or remain a single parent. By the time most teen parents have their babies they are not married, a lot of times the baby dad decides that the situation is to difficult for him to cope with and leaves the teen mom. This happens in many cases. A lot of teen parents score lower in math and reading. I think the reason for this is because they did not have the chance to complete high school, or get any type of college education.

                Two-thirds of teen pregnancies occur between ages 18-19. This is an age where teenagers are easily persuaded, and not exactly sure what they want to do in life. Some teenagers this age may feel they are ready to have a baby and have what it takes to be a parent. I think a pro of having a baby at this young age is you would have a lot of energy to take and raise a child. As your child gets older, you may be able to relate more with their problems and what is happening in their lives because you are closer to their age. A con of having a baby at such a young age would be you are not experienced enough to know how to make the right decisions to guide your child in the correct direction. You may not have the money. You will not have the opportunity to live for yourself, once you have a baby you have to completely focus your child, your entire life for the next 18 years will revolve around your kid. You will miss out on your life.

                Close to 25% of teen mothers have a second child within two years of their first child. Maybe they choose not take birth control, or possibly they enjoyed having a child and wanted another. The United State spends $7 billion each year due to the costs of teen pregnancy. Teen parents do not have the money to pay for hospital bills, and all of the food and supplies they will need to have a baby. 80% on unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare. My guess would be they just simply do not have money to support themselves and their child. It’s hard for any person to do this, especially a young teenager, I personally could not imagine. Teenagers have had fewer babies in 2012 than in any year since the mid 1990s. I believe this is because birth control is so much easier to get today. They have clinics even free clinics all over to help teens and adults get birth control they need. Plus children are educated from a very young age, even through school.

                Some of the pros to becoming a teen parent may be, you will have a beautiful baby that will love you unconditionally, you will have the chance to raise a person and teach them the wrong from the right. Even though it will be very tuff it will be rewarding in the end. You will be a parent; there are a lot of positives to being a parent. It will make you grow up, if you were an immature person, you will not be anymore, you will have to grow up and mature. It may bring your family closer together, of course depending on the family. You will need a lot of support and help when becoming a teen parent, and having a family to back you up will bring you closer together.

                Being a teen parent comes with both its pros and cons; for sure it will be a life changing experience. I have a close friend that became a teen parent, if was very difficult for her, she was not excited about it, she thought her life was over. She was very stressed out and overwhelmed, and wasn’t sure how she was going to make it. She was sure her boyfriend would not stay with her through the situation, because they had not been together for a longtime prior to the situation. In the end she had a beautiful baby that she is so in love with, it was very hard for her, and she had to change so much in her life, but she now feels like without her baby she would not be complete. Her life would not be whole without her baby in it. She doesn’t have a lot of money, she works full time, her baby is babysat by her mom during the day time, she is trying to go to college, and her boyfriend did end up leaving her. She says she loves her life, and it was all worth it, and cannot wait to watch her baby learn and grow more than she already has.

Some websites that are very helpful:




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