A Study of Adolescent Sexuality & Pregnancy
... “Despite abundant access to birth control measures, the United States has one of the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy in the western world, and 10 % of women become pregnant their high school years. Adolescent pregnancy is even more prevalent among black (22.7%) and Native American (20%) youth, lower socioeconomic subgroups, and more chaotic family environments. In addiction to dealing with the physical symptoms and body changes associated with pregnancy, teenage girls have not yet completed their own maturation in physical, cognitive-emotional, and social realms. Pubescence is also associated with identity consolidation, separation individuation from parental figure, and social role transitions toward a more organize, mature character configuration. The complex interplay of these factors confounded by the state of pregnancy, may make transition into adulthood particularly challenging” (Szigethy, et al., 2001). Sex too soon? Hormones directly make adolescents seek sexual activity, which also makes them emotional, aroused, and frustrated. Due to genetic reasons, sexually active in adolescents is strong. “Adolescents, like every other sexually mature creature, have a genetic urge to mate and reproduce. Over the millennia, this urge has made possible the survival of the human species. Although for humans in the twenty-first century population explosion is a bigger threat than population extinction, genes continue to make adolescents seek sex” (Berger, 2005, page 352). In the United States today, teenagers began to date considerably earlier than it used to, and this period of time is an indication of adolescents’ first sexual urge. Early sexual activity increases the risk of several hazards to health, which leads to several sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhea, genital herpes, syphilis, and chlamydia. According to the most recent surveys by high school seniors, about 25 percent have already had multiple sexual partners. Sexually active teens are at risk of catching the HIV virus, which causes the deadly disease AIDS. Sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies are two common hazards. However, the rate of teen pregnancy has dropped since 1990 due to the usage of condoms regularly, contraceptives, and abortions. “In the United States population density is not associated with the percentage of teenage females who become pregnant, but it is positively correlated with the percentage of pregnant teens that electively terminate their pregnancy” (Barbieri, 2004). Another important factor contributed to teenage pregnancy is child sexual abuse, and both the boys and the girls can be victims. Girls are targets by male relatives. Mothers can v...