COM V01
Teen Pregnancy
General Purpose: To inform
Specific Purpose: At the end of my speech, the audience should be able to describe three major contributing factors of teen pregnancy.
Central Idea: Teenage pregnancy can be defined as pregnancy of women who have not reached twenty years of age, regardless of their marital status.
Introduction
I would like to take the time to talk about a topic that’s relatively close to my heart; and that is teen pregnancy. Let me start of by telling you a story about a girl in high school, who was dating your typical foot ball player. She was a cheerleader with many dreams she wanted to accomplish. One day, while she and her boyfriend decided to ditch school, she decided to take a pregnancy test to realize, she is in fact pregnant. My name is Xanath and I became pregnant at sixteen. I could have wished to of waited until I was married and had a profession under my belt. I had many dreams all planned out for my future like, joining the military and becoming a police officer. My dreams never seemed impossible to reach. I didn 't want to believe it. How could I be pregnant at sixteen? Although teen pregnancy is on its all time low in years, we are still seeing children having children. They are faced with many different challenges and forced to make heart breaking decisions to give their child a better future. According to an NBC News article, written by Maureen Salamon, 3 of every 10 American girls become pregnant by the age of 20. (Salamon)
Blueprint: Teenage pregnancy can be defined as pregnancy of women who have not reached twenty years of age, regardless of the marital status. Today I would like to discuss three major contributing factors of teen pregnancy, which are the lack of knowledge for the teen, the pressure to have sex, and the desire to become pregnant.
Transition Sentence: To begin, I would first like to discuss the first major factors that contribute in teen pregnancy.
I.) The lack of knowledge is the first major contributing factor of teen pregnancy.
A.) Most teenagers have little or no knowledge about the consequences when they engage in sexual activity.
1. According to a Fact Sheet from Planned Parenthood, written by Deborah Weiss, sex education should start from the age of a kindergartner. The more you speak to your children about the consequences about having sex, the more they know how to handle it. (Weiss)
2. Teenager who haven’t been properly introduced to the topic of sexuality, are the ones who end up getting pregnant.
B.) Parents are the primary source of the teenager’s knowledge about sex.
1. When a teenager has an absent parent, it’s that much more difficult to try to get a point across, when it’s being done by a single parent.
2. Xochilt Gomez, a counselor at a teen parent high school in Oxnard, quoted, “When I asked my students why did they made the decision to have a baby? They answered with, “Because there was no one really around to supervise us when my boyfriend or girlfriend came over.” (qtd Gomez)
Transition Sentence: This brings me to my second fact on the contribution on teen pregnancy.
II.) The pressure on teens to become sexually active is a major contributing fact in teenage pregnancy. A.) The fear of rejection contributes to this factor in teen pregnancy.
1. From my experience, the feeling of being pressured to have sex overwhelms you at such a young age.
2. For a teenager, who has been with the same person for a couple of months, they often just give in, to please the other person without thinking the consequences of their decisions.
B.) Teen on teen pressure to engage sexual activity has a lot to do with teenage pregnancy.
1. In an interview by Dr. Michelle Golland, she asks a teen mom her input on the pressure to have sex. She stated, “At school, everyone is doing it.”
2. Since other teens see other teens engage in this activity or talk about it, they are prone to join in and try what everyone has been talking about.
Transition Sentence: This brings me to my last fact on the contribution on teen pregnancy.
III.) For a very odd reason, some teenagers desire to get pregnant.
A.) Teenagers constantly want love and affection and they think by fulfilling these needs are fixed with having a baby.
1. In 2008, 17 girls at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts made a pregnancy pact where they all decided to get pregnant at the same time.
2. Kathleen Kinsbury, the writer of an article on Time Magazine, described how when the girls found out they were pregnant, they cheered with high fives, and celebrated with baby showers. (Kinsbury)
3. They girls decided to get pregnant because they were all best friends, and they wanted their children to grow up together.
B. TV shows, movies, magazines, politics (Bristol Pailin), can influence the pressure in engaging in sexual activity.
1. Teen mom shows some struggles of being a teen parent, but at the same time they show the teen moms diving nice cars, their plastic surgeries, and they always manage to look extra dolled up.
2. Bristol Painlin, the daughter of former governor Sarah Pailin, surprised everyone with her pregnancy news when her mother was running for president in 2008. (
Transition Sentence: Let us review what I’ve discussed.
Conclusion: All in all, I’ve discusses three major contributing factors of teen pregnancy. They are the lack of knowledge on the teenager part, the fear of rejection, and the desire to get pregnant. Bringing a child into this world is a blessing, but in its proper time. I wouldn’t change my situation for the world. My daughter has pushed me to get where I’m at now.
Work Cited
Weiss, Deborah. Reducing Teenage Pregnancy. Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. 2013. Web. 8 Apr. 2013 <http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/reducing_teenage_pregnancy.pdf>
Salamon, Maureen. Teen Pregnancy Needs to be De-Glamorized . NBC News, 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2013 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39759635/ns/health-childrens_health/t/teen-pregnancy-needs-be-de-glamorized-experts-say/#.UWXGqzf_EkA
Gomez, Xochilt. Personal interview. 3 April 2013
Golland, Dr. Michelle. “Teen Pregnancy & Teen Sex.” YouTube. 25 May 2011. Web. 8 Apr. 2013.
Kingsbury, Kathleen. “Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High.” Time.com. Time Magazine, 18 June 2008. Web. 3 Apr. 2013
Cited: Weiss, Deborah. Reducing Teenage Pregnancy. Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. 2013. Web. 8 Apr. 2013 <http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/reducing_teenage_pregnancy.pdf> Salamon, Maureen. Teen Pregnancy Needs to be De-Glamorized . NBC News, 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2013 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39759635/ns/health-childrens_health/t/teen-pregnancy-needs-be-de-glamorized-experts-say/#.UWXGqzf_EkA Gomez, Xochilt. Personal interview. 3 April 2013 Golland, Dr. Michelle. “Teen Pregnancy & Teen Sex.” YouTube. 25 May 2011. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. Kingsbury, Kathleen. “Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High.” Time.com. Time Magazine, 18 June 2008. Web. 3 Apr. 2013
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