outlining

Teen Parenting Program

Week 6

Even though there is no way to stop teenage pregnancy, it needs to be prevented. A very high percentage of teenage mothers drop out of school, don't go on to find employment and children born to teen mothers 17 and younger cost the public $7.6 billion a year.

One Million teens get pregnant every year. How scared would you be if you had a child that you loved so much, but could not provide for? You had no help, and everyone just left you. That’s how many pregnant teens feel today. Only 8 out of 10 teen fathers stay with the mother and child. That is one less person that will help out the mother, financially and mentally. If these teens graduated high school, they would have some sort of security, and job, and be able to provide for the child more. Our society needs to do more to help teen moms a pregnant teens graduate from high school.

Education is the first step to success for anyone, especially for an unwed pregnant teenager. A High School diploma opens the door to more opportunities. A pregnant person needs special care under a doctor’s supervision. They need pre-natal vitamins, examinations, counseling, and in some cases special treatments. All of this cost money and the better job you get the better the paycheck. When the baby arrives the baby will need all the essentials like a car seat, dippers, formula, check-ups, medical care and this is just the beginning of a long and endless list of needs. The pressure to find a job that will enable the purchase of these necessities causes great stress upon an unwed mother. Not only does she have to have a good job, she’s got to have daycare while she’s away at work. All this pressure and stress builds up and many teens just break down and drop out. About 70% of pregnant teens drop out of high school. Also, about a third of girls who drop out do so because of teen pregnancy. Pregnancy itself causes other reasons to drop out; morning sickness, fatigue, and the stigma against pregnant teens from peers, teachers and administrators. The insecurities are over-whelming. Getting an education, as a pregnant teen is a constant struggle, yet it is important for their own well-being and the baby.

Today, many pregnant teens turn to special schools for pregnant teens and young mothers, instead of dropping out. These school help teens graduate, also teaching them parenting and life skills. Many of these schools have seen a great success rate, but lately they have been failing. The Martha Nielsen School in the Bronx opened around 30 years ago for pregnant teens and young mothers. They have around 150 students and “Its goal is to provide childcare, parenting courses and a high school curriculum all in one place.” Says Betty Fertig. But recently they have seen a very low attendance rate. Also, test scores reflected that poor turnout. Only one student passed her Global Studies test and just two passed their English exam. Some students say that it wasn’t just the kids who didn’t turn up to class. “We didn’t have math all the time because we didn’t have a math teacher. It wasn’t even fair because we had to take our Math regents and we weren’t prepared, so all the girls at Martha Nielson failed their math regents.” Says Santana who was enrolled to Martha Nielson last year. They also went about a month without an English teacher. This really isn’t fair to these teens. Not many people are aware of tragedies’ like these, so we should help these teens, instead of letting them fail on their own.

Everyone makes mistakes. Some mistakes don’t change your life. A teenage pregnancy will change your life. Whether this change will be for the good, is up to that person. Teen moms deserve a second chance for themselves, and for their baby. With care and support this mom can become productive and a caring, nurturing mother for this child that had no choice in this situation. A second chance offers a hope and future for a mother and child. Justin Bieber, the son of Jeremy Bieber and Pattie Mallette is a 19-year-old pop sensation. He is admired all over the world by young girls (and sometimes boys), but what many people don’t know is his life before he became famous. Pattie had a very troubled childhood, she was sexually abused from the age of four, and by the age of fourteen she was relying on drugs and alcohol. She even tried to commit suicide by running into a moving truck when she was seventeen. When Pattie got the news she was pregnant with Justin at 18, many of her friends and family knew she would need lots of help and tried convincing her to get an abortion, but she never considered it. “I knew I couldn’t, I just knew I had to keep him” Mallette says in an interview with the today show. After Justin was born, her relationship with Jeremy broke down, and she started raising Justin with her parents. She depended on help from food banks, food stamps her parents, and preschools to make the most stable and healthy life she could for Justin. If everyone just gave up on Pattie, and didn’t give her the help and support she needed, the world would not have Justin Bieber. What would a world without him look like? Sad and Scary. Society is better off giving unwed mothers a second chance.

Some people may say that we should not help these teens because they should have listened I school about safe sex and that they have to deal with their own problems.. This is not fair to them though, most teens are not ready to face the world all by themselves, or having no one but their baby. Society needs to give us guidance and support. People cannot just expect teens to master the challenges of parenthood right away. Teen’s moms have to grow very up fast. Teen parents today are even helping in school programs to discourage teen pregnancy. There is no stupid videos about crying babies or abstinence in these programs, its real life and scary to the kids who attend. “ I had to get over myself,” Robert Aleman, 19, told teens at Atkins High School in Austin, Texas, recently. His son, Jonathan turned 3 last month. “I realized I had to get over what I wanted . . . my son comes first. Maybe if Robert had had what he’s giving others, he would not have turned out the way he did, but with the help and support he had, he got through it. Everyone needs to make the best of what has happened in their life’s, become everything happens for a reason, even if you might not think so in the moment.

Though there have been a decline number of pregnant teens over the past decade, the numbers over the last couple years have started to increase, therefore more teen dropouts.. Society overestimates how much just one teen can handle, and needs to understand that its better to help these teens out than leave them on there own. Instead of abandoning someone, make the best out of it and maybe they will turn into a pop sensation just like Justin Bieber. With help and support many teen parents have graduated and gotten through life productively and successfully, this is why society needs to do more to help teen’s graduate high school.

Being a good mother is one of the toughest jobs in the world, and it's almost impossible when you are young, homeless, and without family. That is why our teen mother program will be created to help these determined mothers and pregnant teenagers secure a brighter, more stable future for themselves and their babies.

People have long understood the social implications of teen pregnancy. The impact on high school dropout rates, poverty, the welfare system, child abuse and even crime. Today it is the financial repercussions that has so many people turning their heads. This issue alone has the countries debt crisis rising at a all time high. Preventing teen pregnancy is an area that can reap substantial dividends in the long run and improve the lives of our young citizens.

Resources:

Hoffman SD. Kids Having Kids: Economic Costs and Social Consequences of Teen Pregnancy.Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press; 2008.

Meroski, K., Drake, J., & Major, S. (2014, January 8). Rural Teen Pregnancy About This Guide - Rural Assistance Center. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from http://www.raconline.org/topics/teen-pregnancy/about-this-guide

Smith, M., Gilmer, M., Salge, L., Dickerson, J., & Wilson, K. (2013, February). Kaplan Online Library. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/eds/detail?vid=3&sid=60f60e66-c395-469f-a04c-f03a07075e30%40sessionmgr115&hid=110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=aph&AN=85386100