What Is Teen Pregnancy?

Teen pregnancy is when a teen, nineteen or younger, has a child. This can lead to numerous problems, as it is a child having a child. Most teenage moms don’t graduate high school and have a harder time supporting themselves. Teen pregnancy negatively affects teen moms because it leads to health issues, a lower chance of getting a good education, and gives them a higher chance to use/abuse drugs.

First, teenage moms experience a variety of health issues. Most relate to depression, which can lead to a mother harming herself or her kid. Depression isn’t just caused by childbirth, but society around her as well. Most people frown upon teenagers having kids, which could make the mother feel horrible about herself. Society would be constantly judging her, and since she isn’t an adult, she wouldn’t know how to deal with it. The health issues aren’t just for her. Her baby has a higher chance of being born with disabilities. Some parents today can’t deal with debilitated children, and putting it on a teen is even worse.

Second, teen moms have a lower chance of getting a better education. What follows is a scenario. You’re a teenager, you have a minimum wage job, and homework takes a long time to do. Then, you have a baby, and your job money has to be spent on the child. Babies take a lot of work, so your homework is unfinished. Because you don’t do your homework, you start failing classes. You start stressing about it, but the baby is more important. You end up dropping out of school, and take care of the bay full time. A few years later, your baby has grown and you need more things for him and you. Without a highschool degree, it’s nearly impossible to get a job supporting your child. Scenario is over. That’s what happens to most teen parents. 40% of teen moms can’t get a higher education or get a better job. A college degree is needed for many jobs, but the killer is no high school diploma. No high school diploma equals not a lot of money.

Thirdly, teen moms have a higher chance to use/abuse drugs. 60% of them have used drugs before. This can lead to bad things for the mother and child. Children born with parents using drugs have higher chances of being born with a disability. The mother would usually do drugs after the pregnancy to cope with problems. As I mentioned earlier, depression could be a reason that they use drugs. Drugs like marijuana give a relaxing feeling to teens, making the depression easier. The effect only lasts so long, and they’ll crave more. That could lead to them caring more for the drugs than the baby.

Teen pregnancy affects teens in bad ways. They are more likely to develop health issues, like depression as a result of having a baby that early. The moms are more likely to not get a better education, as taking care of the baby is a full-time job. This leads to them not getting a diploma, which results in less job opportunities. They have a better chance of using drugs to cope with depression or taking care of a child. Teens should not have children, as they are not ready to take care of a baby mentally or physically.

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