Any parent would be scared to hear from their teens the lines “Mom, I’m pregnant…” or “Dad, congrats… you’re going to be a grandpa soon.” Any parent will be appalled and dismayed over teenage pregnancy. However, despite all the drama and rage in the family that teenage pregnancy brings, we couldn’t help but to feel sympathy and be more considerate. Pregnancy in adult women is already taxing. When it happens on teens it is going to be a challenge beyond compare. Thus, to avoid all the unnecessary heartaches and difficulty from an untimely pregnancy, we should know what’s leading teenage to early pregnancy, and thus prevent it.
Empowering changes
Your kid is officially a teenager upon reaching puberty. Once reached, a lot of things changes, most especially biological changes that render the teenager capable of reproduction. Teens experience hormonal changes and their bodies improve. These changes bring a sudden sense of freedom and sexuality that can be quite empowering for teenagers. Thus, they begin to magnify their curiosity by testing and knowing the extent of their mounting capabilities as sexual individuals.
Lack of open communication
Sexual acts in teenagers seem to be common and an “in” thing among peers. And for them, only friends their age can relate and understand them. Thus, they hide with all secrecy of their sexual adventures from their parents. Consequently, the lack of parental guidance and knowledge led the teens to unprotected sex. The inevitable outcome is, as you guessed it, teenage pregnancy.
Inapt knowledge
Teens get to know about sex through all forms of media. Information technology is on the hype and teens can easily get a slight notion what sex is about and how it’s done. The problem starts when they do not how to handle the facts and unable to foresee the impact of early sex and pregnancy. They may know that sex is morally wrong between unmarried couples but they may not understand why. They could also fail to realize the negative consequences of doing sexual acts early in life and the possible teenage pregnancy that is just not fit for their young mind and body.
There is a growing trend of teenage pregnancy in the Philippines, and this is no longer a surprise. What’s more surprising is the fact that it has been happening for the longest time yet nothing is done to curb the mounting rate. We frown about teenage pregnancy because bigger problems are met after pregnancy. In order to stop this issue, knowing the causes of teenage pregnancy could somehow give us a hint on how to veer our teens away from early pregnancy.
