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Decreasing Teen Pregnancy

Decreasing Teen Pregnancy

Decreasing teen pregnancy has been a constant battle for the United States in the past few years. America has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the western part of the world despite not being the leader in sexually active teenagers. The main problem is that here in the United States we do not educate our children enough on having safe sex. Our children end up learning on their own and eventually end up having a child from the lack of knowledge they have. They also take away from their own lives, because a child raising a child is a big task for anyone to take on.

The best way for teenagers to decrease the rate in pregnancy is to practice abstinence. It helps control the birth rates and stops the transmittal of STD's. Most teens have sex because of peer pressure and the fear of being left out. Abstinence is very important but the friends you child chooses is also important to the way they approach having sex. If everyone is doing it around them, they will eventually fall into the trap of peer pressure and begin having sex. Abstaining from sex and learning more about sex is a good way to increase awareness and prevent pregnancy. According to the Guttmacher Institute, "teen pregnancy has decreased by 28% since 1990 due to the education on pregnancy and the literature passed out in schools." Traditionally parents have taught their children about having sex, but now with families always on the go it is hard to focus attention in this area. Most parents rely on sex education in school to help increase a teenager's knowledge about sex and pregnancy. I think that this knowledge should start as soon as a child is able to adhere to all the information and understand how their bodies work. It

should be taught in stages so that by the time they are ready to have sex they will have enough information in their lives to make the right decision.

There are other ways to help prevent teen pregnancy. One is birth control; it...