The U.S.
has one of the highest teen
While it may seem hard to believe, the U.S. has the highest teen
pregnancy rate in the industrialized world – that’s twice as high as
in England or Canada. Almost half (46%) of high school teens admit
they've had sex and in 2009, 34% of currently sexually active high
school students said they did not use a condom the last time they
had intercourse. As a result, as many as 750,000 American teenage
girls get pregnant every year... and the consequences are lifelong.
Teen Mothers
Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school (only one in
three receives a high school diploma) and only 1.5% has a college
degree by age 30.
Nearly 80% of unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare, a much
higher percentage than their older counterparts. Almost 50% of all
teen mothers and over 75% of unmarried teen mothers began
receiving welfare within five years of the birth of their first child.
While we may imagine that a teen pregnancy is the result of a one-
time mistake, nearly 25% of teen mothers have a second birth
before turning twenty.
Teen mothers are less likely to qualify for a high-paying job since
only two-thirds of teen moms have a high school diploma.
Teen moms are less likely to attend college.
Children of Teen Mothers
Babies of teen mothers are more likely to be born prematurely and
at low birth weight, which raises the probabilities of infant death,
blindness, deafness, chronic respiratory problems, mental
retardation, mental illness, and cerebral palsy; it also doubles the
chance that a child will later be diagnosed as having dyslexia,
hyperactivity, or another disability.
These children are also at greater risk of abuse and neglect.
The sons of teen mothers are 13% more likely to end up in prison
while teen daughters are 22% more likely to become teen mothers
themselves.
If an unmarried teen mother did not end up receiving her high
school diploma, there is a 64% chance that the child will grow up in
poverty. The child of a married high-school-graduate, however, has
only a 7% chance of growing up in poverty.
pregnancy rates in the industrialized
world – twice as high as in England or
Canada, and ten times higher than
Switzerland.
The U.S. teen pregnancy rate dropped six
percent between 2008 and 2009.
About 750,000 teens get pregnant in the
United States each year. Nevada has the
highest teen birth rate; 113 out of every
1,000 teens will get pregnant.
About 1 in 3 women become pregnant at
least once before they're 20.
A sexually active teen who does not use
contraceptives has a 90% chance of
becoming pregnant within a year.
It affects education - only a third of teen
mothers earn their high school diploma.
And only 1.5% have a college degree by
age 30.
It also affects their kids - girls born to
teen mothers are more likely to be teen
mothers themselves. Boys born to teen
moms are more likely to end up in prison.
75% of girls and over half of boys report
that girls who have sex do so because
their boyfriends want them to.
8 in 10 girls and 6 in 10 boys say they wish
they had waited until they were older to
have sex.
. Most teens (6 in 10) and adults (3 in 4)
believe that teen boys often receive the
message that they are “expected to have
sex.”
Match the word with its correct explanation:

pregnancy a thin rubber covering that a man wears on his penis during
sex to prevent a woman from becoming pregnant

intercourse to have a child

condom to fail to take care of something

give birth the condition of a woman having a baby

abuse the state of being poor

neglect to treat a person in a harsh or harmful way

poverty sexual activity between two people

Questions:

1. Why do so many teenagers become pregnant?

2. Do you think there is a minimum age for when girls should have babies?

3. What does it take to raise a child?

4. How do you feel about abortion?

5. Who can be blamed that teenagers get pregnant?

6. When do you think is the right age to have a child? Why?

Did you know that more than 2,000 teen

girls in the United States get pregnant
every day? In fact, 3 in 10 girls will
become pregnant at least once by age 20.
Sometimes it seems like everyone is doing And even though nearly all teens say they
it…especially if you’re not. But less than don’t want to get pregnant, most of them
half of teens in high school (only 42% of have never really thought about how
girls and 43% of boys) have had sex. That getting pregnant or getting someone else
means that more than half of all high pregnant would affect their lives.
school students are virgins. And the
younger someone is, the more likely
they’re a virgin. For example, less than
one-third of teenagers age 17 and
younger have had sex, while 60% of 18-
and 19- year-olds have.