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Essay on Teenagers having children and giving them up
Teenage parenthood is by no means a new social phenomenon. Historically, women have tended to begin childbearing during their teens and early twenties. During the past two decades the U. S. teenage birthrate has actually declined (Polit and others, 1982). In the late 1950s, 90 out of 1000 women under 20 gave birth as compared with 52 out of 1000 in 1978. Several factors contribute to the current attention focused on teenage pregnancy and parenthood. There is currently a large number of young women in the 13 to 19 age range, so that while the birthrates are declining, the absolute number of teenagers is increasing. These statistics do not distinguish between intentional and unintentional pregnancies, or pregnancies occurring in or out of wedlock.
From the 1978 figures, only one in six pregnancies concluded as births following marriage, and eight in ten premarital teenage pregnancies were unintended. The declining birthrate is not consistent for all teenagers: among those 14 or younger, the birthrate is increasing. These trends are occurring at a time when contraceptives are increasingly available to teenagers as a means of avoiding unwanted pregnancy. The evidence documenting the unfavorable consequences of unintended teenage pregnancy and teenage parenthood, whether intended or not, has continued to mount. There is an unmistakable and dramatic trend away from teenagers giving their children up for adoption.
In the society that we live today, we come across many incidents and happenings, which were considered immoral in the olden days. One such example is teenagers having children. Nowadays, many youngsters are involved in sexual activities, which though they consider innocuous, bear grave results. In the process of experiencing the other sex, most teenagers these days end up pregnant, loaded with dread in their hearts and an unwanted responsibility on their shoulders. Many go for the easy way out – abortion. However, most aren’t as lucky and fail to sidestep the consequences......
