The Best Ways to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

This is mainly due to the increase in the number of teen pregnancies. The United States has recorded a high rate of teen pregnancies over the last years. Teenage pregnancy has serious consequences including health complications for both the mother and the child. If the situation is not handled correctly, the girls are likely to develop both physical, emotional and social problems (Kirby76). Therefore, appropriate measures should be taken to control the issue of teen pregnancy in the US. Most of the teenagers lack sex education hence they are not able to make an informed decision relating to issues of sex. The girls also get incorrect and misleading information from friends, videos, and the internet which makes them engage in sexual activities leading to teen pregnancies (Kohler 344).

In addition, teenage drinking or drug abuse is also a major factor that contributes to a large number of teenage pregnancies. According to Hoffman (54), teenage drinking contributes to about 75 percent of the teen pregnancies. It lowers the teen’s ability to control their feelings and behavior hence engaging in sexual activities which results in pregnancies. Therefore, sexual abstinence among the teenage girls should be encouraged as the key measure to avoid early pregnancies. Sexual education is also an effective measure of avoiding teen pregnancies. This includes providing the teens with all the necessary information relating to sex including the effects of teenage sex as well as the various ways to avoid it. Educational institutions should play a major role in providing sexual education to young girls.

For example, there should be sessions to discuss and educate girls on different aspects of teenage sex and pregnancies as well as the various ways to avoid it. Parents need to communicate and guide their children on the issues of sex and early pregnancies. This includes educating them on the effects of causes, effects, and ways of controlling teen pregnancies. The parents should hold healthy discussions with their children including sexual abstinence and safer sex practices such as the use of contraceptives. This will provide the girls with adequate knowledge and information necessary to make sound and informed decisions. Drug abuse such as teenage drinking should be highly discouraged because it is the main cause of many teen pregnancies in the society today.