Throughout the years, professionals have worked hard to define

the root influences of teen pregnancy. Some of those factors

include:

• Peer Pressure: Many teenage females admit to having

sexual intercourse in response to their boyfriend's desire for
it. In fact, a 2003 Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that
one in three young men aged 15-17 said they had felt
pressure from male friends to have sex.
• Contraceptive Use: Nearly 50 percent of adolescents state
that they believed that teen pregnancy often results from
the failure to keep contraception readily available.
• Parental Relationship: The likelihood of becoming pregnant
as a teen can increase if one's parents are inattentive,
unloving or fail to instill moral values. The occurrence of
adolescent pregnancy also corresponds to a breakdown in
communication between parent and child.
• Mass Media: Many teens admit that sexualized content in
film, television and music helps influence them to engage in
sexual activity before they are ready.
• Acceptance: An adolescent might become pregnant to
satisfy a desire for unconditional love. A young girl might
also become pregnant in an attempt to retain or win back a
boyfriend.

Limiting Teen Pregnancies

Many health educators argue that comprehensive sex education

will effectively reduce the number of teen pregnancies. Although,
opponents argue that such education encourages earlier sexual
activity.

In the UK, the teen pregnancy strategy, which is based out of the
Children, Young People and Families directorate in the
Department for Education and Skills, works on several levels to
reduce teen pregnancy and increase the social inclusion of
teenage mothers and their families by:

 Making sure branches of government, health and education

services work together effectively.
 Increasing sex education and improving
contraceptive/advice services for young people.
  Supporting the parents of teenagers by encouraging them
to talk about sex and relationships.
 Increasing support for teenage mothers by helping them
return to education.
 Providing advice and support for young fathers.

The teen pregnancy strategy has had mixed success. Although

teen pregnancies have fallen overall, they have not fallen
consistently in every region and in some areas they have
increased.

In the United States, the topic of sex education is the subject of

much contentious debate. Some schools provide "abstinence-
only" education while virginity pledges are becoming increasingly
popular. Most public schools offer "abstinence-plus" programs
that support abstinence but also offer advice about
contraception. A team of researchers and educators in California
have published a list of "best practices" in the prevention of teen
pregnancy, which includes working to "instill belief in a successful
future," male involvement in the prevention process and
designing interventions that are culturally relevant.

For sources and more pregnancy related topics, please see:

RoadToDelivery.com