The Reality of Teen Motherhood

  
          
             Women already living in the controversial state of Arizona, are experiencing a disheartening epidemic known as teen pregnancy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it showed that Arizona’s teen birth rate remains well above the national average, it is the fifth-highest in the nation.
            While their are several factors contributing to why teens today are bearing children before they are prepared, the most prominent fall under socioeconomic factors such as poverty levels, and lack of education. However, with pop culture having such an influence on today’s youth how do you measure such influences? Take Teen Mom for example on MTV, girls on the show are paid to have a camera and spotlight film their staged life. But what happens when the camera stops rolling? Teenagers as most of us can attest to, have been lured by peer pressure and what “everyone else is doing.” 
            While abstinence speeches can prove useful, hormones will usually triumph. While no one can stop teens from doing it, there are measures that are being taken to educate and promote good choices. But with the recent statistics in Arizona, are those measures enough? “Teens need to be better educated at an earlier age about teen pregnancy and the consequences of getting pregnant at a young age,” said Brooke Baldwin, a marketing senior.  Repercussions of teen pregnancy vary widely. Most common and almost expected is the likelihood of girls to drop out of school.
            Another facet of teen pregnancy is the support system of family. If nationally, teen pregnancy is occurring we must question the value of what it means to be “raised right.” Though we cannot wholly blame parents. At some point, the environment takes over the raising of children. Parents can only hope the values the have been passed down will be put to use. “If they just force that sex is a bad thing without telling them the safe practices the children are just going to go behind their backs and do it anyway  without knowing how to be safe,” said Shelby Jones, a pre-nursing freshman.
           It is a sticky issue that has yet to be solved. One thing is certain, teen pregnancy is a force sweeping through one state at a time.