Why does KIDS keep getting pregnant at a young age (11-18)?

Question

You all have really good answers. All from different points of view. You are all making good sense about it.

Answer 1

Because they don't think they need birth control. Society is pushing children to have sex earlierand earlier all the time. 30 years ago, being a virgin in university was no big deal, now being a virgin past grade 7 is something kids worry about. They just don't get that they can get pregnant the first time, or before they are 16. And their parents don't want to believe that little 12 year old suzy and johnny are actually having sex, just like their singer and actor idols are.

Answer 2

For starters to the person who said bcos theyr dumb should grow up and face the real world!
I had my daughter when i was 17 and by no means am i stupid.
I was top in majority of all my classes in high school and managed to get in the top percentage of all of these by the end of my schooling.
The fact is these things happen, sometimes they are accidents where,even though using adequate protection, something goes wrong, or they wern't taught properly about protection, they could just be having a lapse of judgement..or maybe think of the possiblity that they were taken advantage of. Sometimes certain types of people actually feel the need to have children, as though something is missing in there lives and having a baby will fill the void.
I have read all about why some teens fall pregnant and they have now found proof that if a teenage girl grows up without a father they are more likely to fall pregnant at a younger age.

Answer 3

Because parents aren't doing anything to stop them or atleast provide safer ways like birth control and condoms or maybe a lil talk about the birds and the bees We can't blame it all on these kids when you can see how much kids don't understand these things from the question's they ask on here God Bless them

Oh yeah yes we can blame the parents are you blind or living in some dream world where only these kids are to blame Parents need to take better care of there kids and stop spending soo much time at work or in front of the TV or computer or all the S***
that matter's more than like (there kids) I see all the kids left in cars on 100 degree weather or hay these kids running around in this hot weather with no shoes on and blister from the hot asfalt oh maybe you think it's ok if parents neglect there kids in these ways but lets not blame them for there baby's getting pregnant

Sorry had to vent that pist me off

Answer 4

Lack of sex education. Whether it comes from the parents or through sex ed someone needs to educate these kids. Obviously "don't do it " is working oh so well. When I was in 10th grade I took a parenting class. We had to carry around the screaming babies and comparison shop for all the equipment to set up a nursery. The real kicker was the teacher wasn't even allowed to say "condom" in class. It was strictly forbidden to teach anything about sex. I went to public school! There were at least 8-10 girls in each class 9th-12th that were pregnant. They could teach us childcare, but they couldn't talk to us about prevention. How does that make sense?

Answer 5

Because they aren't being informed at the consequences of sex. Instead they are being told to say abstinent without the reasons why. There are girls out there that don't even know having sex causes pregnancy. There's food for thought. If someone would just fill in the details there would not be such a high rate. But even filling in the details is considered taboo.


Until then, more babies are a comin' down the way.

Answer 6

it's because of the breakdown of the basic family unit. this leads to a breakdown of decent parenting, which leaves very young children to make very grown up choices. it's also because society keeps letting celebrities with horrible morals be the guides for what is considered cool and acceptable. just think about it...if you just let your 7 year old daughter watch anything she wants on tv and model her clothes and behavior after someone like paris hilton or britney spears, what do you think she is going to want to do when she starts getting into the boys at school? be like paris with guys throwing themselves at her or be like someone who saves themselves for marriage and gets called a prude all through their teenage years?

if a few more parents would actually take on the job of being parents and a few more kids who make the mistake of getting pregnant at a young age would realize that they need to let that child have a chance with adoption, it might make a difference in they way kids are turning out. just look at history...there were a lot more strict standards of behavior, and there were better statistics for the teens back then...better grades, more college or trade school successes, and a lot less 15 year old moms.

and yes i know that some teen moms do make good moms because of their own experiences and i know that just because you get pregnant young doesn't mean you are stupid. i've been through the teen pregancy drill...i gave a baby up for adoption at 16 and i know he has had a far better upbringing with his adoptive parents than i could have provided at that age. and i was at the top of my class and had the highest act and sat scores in my high school's history. but i was also raised by a single mother who wasn't around a lot and was influenced very heavily by the bad examples set by celebrities and movies in the late 80's/early 90's. this experience has taught me what mistakes my mother made and i made in those early years of my life, and i now try to raise my children to be better than i was.

Answer 7

stop blaming the parents for a start. They don't force them to go and have unprotected sex. They don't get themselves pregnant, it's impossible, it takes 2 for a pregnancy to happen.

Like someone said in their reply to a different question earlier, sad but true, a lot of girls actually beleive that they can't get pregnant first time, or that they wont get pregnant if he pulls out or that not using a condom is a sign of their love for their partner.

As for why they are actually having sex to start with at a young age, I beleive a lot of it is to do with peer pressure and how the media portray sex. Also because at that age they have loads of hormones flying around their body as they go through puberty and adolesence. They beleive they are too old for the kids games they used to enjoy and they feel like they are now grown up and should be doing grown up things, sex being one of the most grown up things you can do. Adolescence is the most difficult stage to go through for anyone. You are too old for one thing and too young for others. You're kind of stuck in this dimention where there's just nothing for you to do that's appropriate for your age group, or that's how it feels. If you still play with barbies you get ridiculed for being babyish. If you dress more grown up you get ridiculed for looking sluttish and called cheap and easy and asking for it.

Give adolescents a break, they can't do right for doing wrong in most peoples eyes.

Answer 8

Because sex is a non-talking theme in the US - all moral instances say "no" to young sex, so there is no sensible discussion about the risks involved.

Some girls simply don't know they could become pregnant!!

And some believe in any weird tricks to prevent pregnancy - nobody would supply them with birth control, and sometimes they don't even have money for condoms. Crazy.

Answer 9

There are many reasons this problems continues. Some (not all) of them are...

* Parents are not teaching their children about sex, period, not to mention safe sex.

* Teachers are still extremely biased against females and many are led to believe their only purpose in life is to be a wife and mother.

* Churches are emotionally blackmailing people by demonizing masturbation and self-gratification, but staying silent about the rampant teen pregnancies and spread of STDs. (Former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders spoke out about masturbation and was basically fired).

* Government is involved in domestic issues and attempting to regulate and adjudicate matters that should be controlled on the family level, but is not. (e.g. truancy).

* Media portrays the glamorous side of "fast living" but rarely shows the downside and realities of that lifestyle.

* Many systems are still in place to keep people fighting among themselves (e.g. religion, race, sexual orientation, etc.) so we not only can't get support in our environment, we usually can not give support to others who could possibly benefit from learning from others without regard to some "imaginary barrier."

This issue is VERY complex and we, as a society, have to stop pretending like it's going to get better on it's own. Clearly, ignoring it is not making it go away.

Answer 10

For only one reason!
**because their parents don't educate them about sex and birth control young enough