Credible Source-An Educator

An educator of any kind, whether they are a health teacher, or a Professor at a University, or a teachers aid see first hand the damages and repercussions of teen pregnancy. My own personal story happened when I was in high school; it was senior year and I was the only girl who was not pregnant, or expecting out of 14 girls in my health class. We had discussions mostly about teen pregnancy and how to care for children since most of us were around the age of 18 and already HAD children. What was the point of learning about contraceptives so intensely anymore? Anyways, one day after the class was over, the teacher called me aside to her desk and told me that she was very proud of me for abstaining in my own life and that I should advocate for young women some day to prevent pregnancy. I told her that that was just the way I viewed life, and that was normal for me. She told me that I was a very lucky girl to have parents that taught me those values because I can take them for granted and that I never saw the damages of teen pregnancy in my own life. After that I really evaluated my life and the girls around me and became thankful that I had such a caring family to put me first always in their lives, and work hard to support me so someday I could have an education. I realized that a teacher, someone who sees and works with students everyday of their career, sees so many unfortunate cases, and of smart girls who make the wrong decisions. They see first hand how teen pregnancy can ruin their lives and how their peers treat them because of it. I think that teachers have the ability to help and take it on as a personal responsibility to teach their students to be safe and support them. You never know who you might effect and how much the words might influence someone. Just one student who listens is success.

Subliminal Messaging-

If you get yourself an education then teen pregnancy is at a much lower rate for those who do not receive even their basic high school education. Just to learn to say no and wait like these posters or else the consequences follow! Even though the first poster might be a negative type of subliminal message (the one with the mom who cannot go to the party), it gets the attention of teenagers because no one wants to be that person who cannot go out. They struggle to find themselves in this world and with a child at their side, their chances are even less. The other poster is a positive type of message because it shows a graduation cap and that could be yours as long as you stay away from teen pregnancy.

Classical Conditioning 3- Stay informed and knowledgeable and don't forget to take your birth control!

If we educate each other, and our children then there is a less chance of us or them getting pregnant. If we do not get pregnant at a young age, then the there is a world of possibilities, literally. Just imagine all the things there are to do in the world and without someone (a child) holding you down, you could do or go anywhere in the world. Graduation is a very high possibility and with a better education comes the right to be and stay informed about birth control options, and the right to say no.

Classical Conditioning 2-Use Birth Control!

The answer is BIRTH CONTROL! It not only prevents teen pregnancy, but it empowers both women and men! Today we are lucky to live in such an advanced world so of course we should take advantage of that! (Pictured above) Is all the types of contraceptives available out there, like the pill and the shot (depo-provera) for women, and the condom for the male. There are organizations like Planned Parenthood who administer these contraceptives to young people for free, without any parental signatures. Now what could be easier than that? Also, a very important part of birth control that many of us forget is abstinence. Both women and men must feel equally confident to say "no" when they feel pressured. In my previous post about education, if our young teenagers are educated before they act on their sexual urges, they can be thoroughly informed and self-assured to just say no. They will not feel like everyone their age is doing it and that it is the in, or cool thing to do.

The first picture features a woman who has the confidence to stand up and even after taking her regular birth control, also tries a new type of contraceptive that is related to Plan B. Everyone makes mistakes and even if we choose to engage in sexual activity at a young age, there is another type of emergency contraceptive (Plan B). Confident women and men choose to make the right decisions and thus lead a better lifestyle with more opportunities.

Classical Conditioning 1-An education if you don't get pregnant!

Today, the rate of teenagers who become pregnant do not even finish high school. They are more likely to drop out of school, and thus to be on welfare and have low income housing and jobs. The world is an extremely demanding place and a basic education is essential to live. All that is required is that we use protection. To have any high paying job, or respect in the work place today, a high level of education is mandatory to succeed. If teenagers are having children at such a young age, how can they possibly find the time to focus on themselves and advance their own lives? Also, if they have children very young, then what kind of example is that setting for THEIR children some day? Education is the key to success in a formadable world, and having children at such a young age can postpone, or even deplete ones chances of prosperity.

This is a vicious cycle and to stop it education is the answer! Plus, who would not want to end up like this hot teacher that Cameron Diaz plays because with success comes wealth and happiness.

Social Engineering

There of course are many upon many of people who are against contraceptives for women. There are schools that try to prevent it all together like some schools in the south who ban Judy Blume books for talking to children about the subject matter. At abortion clinics, there are people who protest every single day outside and try to get the clinics to close. Just the other day I saw a sign in a persons yard that said close abortion clinics and re-give elders medicare.

In health classes around the country, we try to teach our young children the preventatives to take and to just say no when they are confronted with peer pressures. We must teach our children how to be safe if they are going to engage in these types of behaviors because that personally is the only way we are going to make a difference.

There are clinics like Planned Parenthood where children can go and feel safe to ask for something that they feel like they could not ask their parent. And its also free for the most part. They also offer the morning after pill which is a technological advancement, but its the place they can go that counts.

How Technology has effected the Problem

Technology has greatly effected teen pregnancy. Women have also become empowered because of the technological advancements due to teen pregnancy. There are the contraceptives, like the birth control pill that women can take to prevent pregnancy, which is almost 99% effective. There is a shot, a intrauterine device (which is inserted into the women's arm for a period of years until they decide they want children again), and women's version of the condom called a diaphragm.

When women finally received all their rights by the government this was the final thing that they needed to be independent. They could now do anything a man could do and not have to be attached to anyone. This is why teens probably get pregnant more often because they know that they are not tied to that person forever anymore.