Teen Pregnancy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Teen Pregnancy - Essay Example ches, however, have resulted to significant differences possibly â€Å"arising from a combination of political, religious and research design factors.† (Bonell, C., 2004) Teenage pregnancy poses a problem to the young couple, their baby and the society. For the couple, they have to deal with not being able to finish high school or going to college. â€Å"Only 40 percent of teen moms who give birth at age 17 or earlier finish high school according to research compiled by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.† (Huus, K., 2010) As for the child, it more often grows up trying to match its peers in terms of necessities and luxuries in life. Society is not spared. The U.S. government spends over at least $9.1 billion for health care, housing assistance, food stamps, child welfare services â€Å"provided for teens and their children, and the lost revenue due to lower taxes paid by teen mothers.† (Huus, K., 2010) Teen pregnancy also serves as a marker of sexual behavior that brings a substantial risk of contracting AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. (Allen, et. al., 1997) Although there was a steady decline in teenage pregnancies in the United States, approximately 1 million teenage girls become pregnant each year. (Overview, 2007) Research shows that â€Å"practitioners and researchers have been sorely remiss in discovering proven, replicable, and socially acceptable ways to help American young people avoid unwanted pregnancies.† (Schinke, S., 1998) How can society solve this seemingly neglected problem? â€Å"Within psychology, especially, critical thinking has been championed for all students and professionals.† (Levy, D., 1997) As teen pregnancies are often studied in relation to the psychological behavior of the individual, maybe critical thinking can help society find a way to come up with better programs to guide teenage parents or thwart the rise the occurrences of teenage pregnancies. Analysis and evaluation of teenage pregnancy