Teens - Get the Facts
Teen pregnancy can have serious consequences for girls and guys, including decreased chances of finishing school, a rocky financial future, and health risks for both the mother and the child. If you are thinking about having sex, it is important to know that the effects can last a lifetime.
Here's the facts about teen pregnancy:
- Three out of ten teenage girls in the United States get pregnant at least one before age 20 -- that amounts to 745,000 teen pregnancies each year. Shocking right?
- The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world -- twice as high as in England or Canada and eight times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan.
- In California alone, teen childbearing costs taxpayers an estimated $896 million annually.
- Two-thirds of all teen pregnancies occur among 18-19-year-olds, but that doesn't mean that you're immune if you are under 18.
- Almost 50% of teens have never considered how a pregnancy would affect their lives.
- Parenthood is the leading reason why teen girls drop out of school. Less than half of teen mothers ever graduate from high school and fewer than two percent earn a college degree by age 30.
- Children of teen mothers do worse in school than those born to older parents -- they are 50 percent more likely to repeat a grade, are less likely to complete high school than the children of older mothers, and have lower performance on standardized tests.
- Pregnant teens are far less likely to receive timely and consistent prenatal care than those who get pregnant at a later age. The children of teen mothers are more likely to be born prematurely and at low birthweight and are two times more likely to suffer abuse and neglect compared to children of older mothers. Teen mothers are also more likely to smoke during pregnancy, and often teen mothers are not at adequate pre-pregnancy weight and/or do not gain the appropriate amount of weight while pregnant.
- Teen mothers are likely to have a second birth relatively soon -- about one-fourth of teenage mothers have a second child within 24 months of the first birth -- which can further impede their ability to finish school or keep a job, and to escape poverty.
- Eight out of ten fathers don't marry the mother of their child. These absent fathers pay less than $800 annually for child support, often because they are poor themselves. Children who live apart from their fathers are also five times more likely to be poor than children with both parents at home.
(Source: stayteen.org)
Teen Sexual Health Resources
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy seeks to improve the lives and future prospects of children and families.
Stay Teen is designed for teens and helps teens become informed with interactive tools. Find information, discussion guides and resources provided by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
Sex. Really. is an online destination for 20-somethings featuring discussion about relationships, love and sex.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides information on sexually transmitted diseases and related issues.
Teen talk about pregnancy, relationships and related topics provided by Planned Parenthood.
MTV's 16 and Pregnant' is an hour-long documentary series focusing on the controversial subject of teen pregnancy. Each episode follows a 5-7 month period in the life of a teenager as she navigates the bumpy terrain of adolescence, growing pains, rebellion, and coming of age; all while dealing with being pregnant.
The Abstinence Clearinghouse serves as an association for the abstinence community. The Clearinghouse is a non-profit educational organization that promotes the appreciation for and practice of sexual abstinence through distribution of age-appropriate, factual and medically-accurate materials.
The Florida Department of Health Abstinence Education Program, as part of it’s “It’s Great to Wait” abstinence education campaign, sponsors a number of community outreach activities designed to increase public awareness of sexual abstinence as the healthiest choice for youth.
Girl360.net is a Chicago and San Francisco-based webzine and online community for tween girls. This woman-owned and girl-focused cause marketing company seeks to bring the stories of history's and today's most amazing women to the attention of the next generation of tween girls (9 – 12).
