Summary Of Earlier Adulthood: A Look At Teenage Pregnancy

Earlier Adulthood : A Look into Teenage Pregnancy in the United States The American Dream is a symbol that varies between individuals, but, in general, works to represent an individual’s utopian lifestyle, whether focused on fame, financial stability, happiness, and more. In the midst of their journey to utopia, many get confronted by large barriers which appear to reduce the achievability of the dream. Currently, one in three teenage girls face an obstacle which significantly increases their reach for their ideal life: teenage pregnancy. In the last decade, the increased use of contraceptives and school involvement have helped reduce the number of teenage pregnancies, thus increasing social mobility for teenagers. Contraceptives are beginning

Jennifer Maslow, a PhD in sociology who is the co-director of teen pregnancy research at Child Trends, found that “58.3% of sexually active teens always use a contraceptive, and another 17.3% report

Many schools attempt to display their inclusivity through parent programs which discuss prenatal and postnatal health care, postpartum contraceptives, parenting skills, and the consequences of subsequent pregnancies. One particular program which Edwin Darden, a senior program officer for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation who specializes in education and school board policy, highlighted was the Teenage Parenting Program (TPP) offered in high schools throughout Orange County, Florida. As an incentive to encourage participation, the program provides funded childcare and course credits for the high school diploma requirements (Darden). With one of the program’s emphasis being on postpartum contraception, it helps to assuage some of the concerns about “constrained education and employment possibilities” associated with repeat teenage pregnancies (“Vital Signs: Repeat Births”). Programs like TPP are ideal for not only reducing the prevalence of teenage pregnancy in society, but also help to encourage a completion of education among new and existing teenage parents, which pushes these adolescents closer to reaching their