Do you think peer pressure is the major cause of teenage pregnancy(13-16years)?

Question

In Britain only

Answer 1

No, sex is. Not to be flippant about this, but our kids see so much of it and it is made out to be so much the thing to do in so many of the films they see and music they hear etc, that it is hard for them to see the consequences of starting so young.. When they do start, like adults, they like it and aren't likely to stop.

Peer pressure, almost always infulences kids, but I don't feel it is the MAJOR Reason. I think their being bombarded with these images etc is.

Answer 2

Peer pressure to have sex, yes.

Peer pressure to have babies, no!

I assume you meant the former.

I know when I was a teenager, everyone was always going on about how many people they'd slept with, and how old they were when they lost their virginity. Talking about it 10 years later, it turns out that the majority weren't actually doing it at all, and were just making it up because they thought people would take the p*** if they admitted to being virgins.

I know this because out of the people I've kept in touch with, most of those who reckoned they'd had sex whilst still at school, when asked now how old they were when they lost their virginity, will say somewhere between 16 and 19!

Unfortunately, there were a small minority who did believe that everyone else was having sex, so they did too. I think it's fair to say that most regretted it.

Obviously peer pressure's not the reason in every case, but it certainly doesn't help.

Answer 3

Peer pressure pays a part! But I think the major cause is lack of education. I was told all about the birds and the bees at an early age by my mother. She explained periods, pregnancy and contraception later when i was around 11. At 15 I was seeing a boy my age and she spoke to me about sex. She explained all the ins and outs of being part of a loving relationship, including the pitfalls, STI's, pregnancy, HIV and how to prevent it. I went on the pill and 15, always used a condom and didn't have a child until i was in a stable, loving relationship at 28.

If all mothers were like mine, understanding, concerned and always willing to educate we wouldn't have the teenage pregnancy rate that we do.

Can I just state for Kim I was from a single parent family and haven't seen my father since I was 7 years old. It did not bother me I received love and support from my mother. More than what two parents could have given!!

Answer 4

Britain is very bad for teenage pregnancy's I don't think it is peer pressure, more to do with what the government offers (housing paid for, money every week, free milk etc,etc) alot of kids just like the idea of never working and getting away from there parents. They don't think of the hard work that comes from having a baby.

Answer 5

I blame celebs like Jade, Mel B & Eddie Murphy, Britney Spears, Jesse Wallace, Kate Moss, to name but a few who instantly get pregnant when they meet a man but the one big difference is these people have MONEY and they are not burdened with their kids and still continue to party and have a good time and the kids are left with nannies. Teenagers think they can continue as normal and their lives won't be affected. Soaps on TV are no help either because look at Coronation Street and Tracy's baby where she appears to palm it off on anyone and everyone and it doesn't stop her from doing anything, I think that's how teenagers see the situation. Sad.

Answer 6

It may be a factor, but we should break this down. What's the cause of peer pressure? Generally a lack of knowledge and/or discipline in one's life where they force others to believe as they do and not think for themselves. Let's also not forget the contribution of apathy, also probably derived from a lack of knowledge and/or discipline. In general, I see it as much the fault of adults not taking the time to teach their kids what they should and shouldn't do and setting up a set of morals in their lives. With hardy morals, a kid will follow it fairly strictly, and at least be safer with their lives. Obviously, it's sometimes out of an adult's control but the issue originates long before the current teens were born and is now an issue that will be difficult to solve.

Answer 7

I think it depends on the person. I think it can become a cause for those who are possibly being bullied and are looking 4 some1 to turn 2 4 affection and love and find that in sex and then end up pregnant. Sometimes no because some teens just do wot they want, and some just want kids and do wot is necessary 2 have them

Answer 8

Loaded question. Lack of involvement from parents who rely on the education system to bring up their kids for them. Lack of knowledge from the parents themselves. Sex education at school teaches you how to get pregnant, not much on how NOT to, or STI or correctly using a condom or what pregnancy does to a woman or what it really means to have a baby. A lot of girls have this fairy tale idea about pregnancy! Parents and doctors rarely offer all the options to the teenager when they get pregnant! And how do teenagers find time and opportunity to have sex! Parents are quite happy to let their kids do whatever they want!

Answer 9

Yes, I do. For those people who say that it is ignorance, how much more do you need to know than sex causes pregnancy? The amount of sex education my children received missed out on one vital point - they're kids. You can teach a child to put a condom on a cucumber but you can't teach a girl/boy that sex is something they shouldn't do when everyone else in the world is doing it!
Out of my daughter's friends, most of them who have had sex have had sex because they were drunk or because they wanted to keep their boyfriends, or because they fancied their best friend's boyfriend. Not one of them was because they were "in love". Well, we know that cucumbers don't actually need condoms, but kids need love, and the confidence to believe that although they are teenagers, sex isn't the end all and be all of our existence.

Answer 10

i think it can be but it depends on the maturity of the individual.
a few of my friends were pregnant at 16 and were sexually actibe for a few years before that and no matter how much they went on about it i never thought "cor, maybe i should be doing that too!" i waited until i had a steady boyfriend, who i am now married to and we have a beautiful daughter.
Some people that are easily led will do this and unfortunatelly it is becoming more common as kids dont want to be the odd one out and be picked on.