Cause and Effect Paper

Jackie Sager
Comp 1
October 26, 2013
The Effects of Teen Pregnancy Becoming a teen parent is always a scary thing to go through, but over the years, the United States has been trying new and different ways to lower the occurrence of unplanned pregnancies among teens. There has always been a high rate of teen pregnancies in the United States, and according to The Los Angeles Times, “Teen pregnancy rates in the United States have fallen in recent years, but the country still has a higher rate than any other developed country” (Roan). Even though the rates of teen pregnancy in the United States have fallen, they are still the highest in the world. Throughout the years, the United States has been experimenting and brainstorming new ideas to prevent teens from falling into peer pressure of having sex. They added child development classes to the high schools to teach teens what happens when they decide to get pregnant or accidentally get pregnant. Becoming a teen mom has many effects on teens that are forced to grow up faster, change their priorities, and push back their future plans. When teens discover they are pregnant, more than 50% of teens will make their first decision about their pregnancy, by telling someone right when they find out themselves. A teen telling another person is a big step for them in the right direction of growing up in this situation. Many teens first tell their parents, the father of the child or a very close friend or family member. Once the big news of a teenager’s pregnancy is known by someone other than themselves, teens then discuss and make the decision of either keeping their baby, giving it up for adoption or getting an abortion. Surprisingly 35% of teens, who become pregnant get an abortion, only 1% of pregnant teens decide to put their baby up for adoption and finally about one third of pregnant teens decide to keep and raise the baby (Wender). Once pregnant teens make their first parenting decision, they then move on to many other hard decisions which forces them to grow up faster. Becoming a teen mom is a stressful time to go through, not to mention all the decisions they have to make and the getting ready for the baby, these are just some points of pregnant teens growing up faster and making big decisions like these. Usually, once teens become pregnant their total mind set of how they are living their life changes also. When teens first become pregnant, more than half will start to change what they can to make it a healthier environment for their baby. When 46% of teens do underage drinking, partying, smoking, taking drugs, those are the first things most teens will stop doing, if they are doing any of those already. Teenagers that quit doing these things to provide a better life for their child is a clear indication of just some life changes they are already making (Wender). Some teenagers don’t want to change anything in their life just because they get pregnant, it has been recorded that 5% of teens who become pregnant still do whatever they want, even if they may cause harm to themselves or their baby’s. About 20% of teens who become pregnant, decide to hold on to being a teenager as much as possible and continue doing what they want and not think about what’s best for the baby. Out of that 20%, many teens will try to have a miscarriage by drinking way too much, smoking, and then claim they never knew they were pregnant! Samantha, a reporter, says “There is really no way to stop it; teens will do whatever they want even if they have had warnings” (Wender). As some teens keep doing whatever they want, there are actually some teens that own up to their mistakes and change their life style to care for their child. More than 50% of teens who discover they are pregnant, change their lifestyles and their top priorities. Teens that become pregnant change a lot of things in their lives as they are bringing a child of their own into this world and especially if they are going to keep and raise it. When teens become pregnant most of them will change their priorities in different ways. Some teens will start to change their life to all baby stuff and get ready for a baby in their life (Williams). When teens change their priorities around for a baby, many of them will drop out of high school and put off their college degrees until later on in their life. When teens become pregnant, they all have different ways to change their life to either raise a baby or not change their lives at all because they don’t plan on having that baby. Some teens will have the choice of still attending school and having somewhat of a normal social life because they have support in their family and friends. Other teens may not have that kind of support and may lose friends and family members over their pregnancy and may have to drop out of school (Williams). Teen parents also have to make the choice if the child will have a stable home of a mom and dad together. As most pregnant teens get ready to raise a baby, they have to make the choice if they are going to raise their baby in a two parent or a single parent environment. About 25% of teen moms end up becoming a single parent. Many different reports of the fathers leaving are because they are not ready to care for a baby at their young age. Another major reason is because many teen dads dislike the mother of their child and also don’t want anything to do with the child, claiming the child is not theirs also (Williams). As teen moms change their priorities in life around a baby, a major setback are the teens own life futures. Teens that have a baby as a teen are 70% more likely to drop out of school. Teen moms drop out of school because once they have a baby, it usually is too hard for them to concentrate and do homework with a baby around. Babies also need a lot of taking care of, and teens themselves also need taking care of too, and putting those two together plus school work and deciding what they want to do with their life is a huge overload for most teens. When teens get too stressed about everything going on, schooling will be the first to go even if they try to make it work (Swierzewski). Since most teen moms are still in high school, they are more likely to drop out of school because of having a baby. But once their baby is older, teen moms usually will go back to school and get started on their future plans again. Teen parents usually put their kids into daycare or if they have the love and support of family members, someone can watch their baby in their family or friends so they can get work done. Many teens will try to stay in school and graduate so they at least have a high school diploma, then wait a year or two to save money and raise their child, then go back to school to make a better living and future for themselves and their child (Swierzewski). Most people think that it’s just the teen moms that have to put a hold on their future plans, but teen dads do also. Even though not many teen dads stick around for their child, the ones that do, try to be a good dad. Many teen dads also give up their future plans to work and earn money to support their own family and not rely on anybody for anything. But as their baby gets older, they too will go back to school if they have dropped out, and get a higher education to be able to earn a higher paying job (Swierzewski). So as teen mom and dads have the odds of success against them, many are determined and work hard to make a better life for themselves. As many teenagers fall to the peer pressure of having sex and a possibility of becoming pregnant from their choice, many of the hardships that come with teen parenting can be overcome with dedication and the love and support of family and friends. Even as teens have the hardship of growing up a lot faster than they planned, changing their whole mindset and priorities into parent and baby mode, and also putting a hold on their own future plans, these things can be overcome with hard work. Even though there are many struggles to becoming a teen parent and different roads you can take to cope with the situation, many teens work hard to get through it and not just be a statistic, but show the people who say they ruined their lives that they are doing just fine.

Works Cited
Lopez, Molly Smolowe, Jill Tauber, Michelle “Teen Pregnancy Growing Up Too Fast” People. 14 Jan. 2008 Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
Swiezewski, Stanley J. “Teen Pregnancy, Consequences of Teen Pregnancy.” Teen Pregnancy. 31 Oct. 2000 Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
Wender, Samantha :New Teen Parents Forced to Grow Up Fast.” ABC News. 17 June 2009 Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
Williams, Amy “ Effects of Teenage Pregnancy.” At-Risk Teenagers: A Helpful Source for Parents with At-Risk Teenagers. 23 Nov. 2010 Web. 18 Oct. 2013

Cited: Lopez, Molly Smolowe, Jill Tauber, Michelle “Teen Pregnancy Growing Up Too Fast” People. 14 Jan. 2008 Web. 18 Oct. 2013. Swiezewski, Stanley J. “Teen Pregnancy, Consequences of Teen Pregnancy.” Teen Pregnancy. 31 Oct. 2000 Web. 18 Oct. 2013. Wender, Samantha :New Teen Parents Forced to Grow Up Fast.” ABC News. 17 June 2009 Web. 18 Oct. 2013. Williams, Amy “ Effects of Teenage Pregnancy.” At-Risk Teenagers: A Helpful Source for Parents with At-Risk Teenagers. 23 Nov. 2010 Web. 18 Oct. 2013