Teenage Pregnancy

Introduction

In Asia, Philippines is one of the most wealthy country in terms of natural resources. And as the years gone by, the country is also being rich in people, not in capital human resources but on human production. The growth in population in the country is continuous that it will reach to the point where there is a great problem regarding the scarcity of food and lack of shelter. The early economist and demographer, Thomas Robert Malthus, already oriented the people regarding the consequences of overpopulation. According to Malthus’s Theory of Population, there are potential dangers in the increase of population and as he explained, the people can multiply faster than the rate of food supply. This very same idea is now tackled by the countries with a number of populations and rapid increase in production rate. Any further increase would lead the population to face the various phenomena like famine or disease.

If we will watch closely the trend in the increase of population, there is an obvious increase in population among the third world countries or the developing countries as against to the developed countries. Then we can say that the increase of population may be both the cause and effect of poverty. The environment of the people is also a great factor to increase the population and apparently it is demonstrated by the young parents. The young parenting are composed of young unmarried couple and yet starting to build a family of their own. In this case, the issue of overpopulation is set aside; instead we will focus on the increasing problem of teenage pregnancy.

Teenage pregnancy is characterized by young girls with ages 13-19 years old. The growth on the numbers of teenage pregnancy became an alarming situation in both community and national levels. Teenage pregnancy has many causes in which the government can’t recognize the real reason behind this sudden growth. The factors that the experts identified are the environment in which the teenagers belong, the parents’ participation in guidance and growth, and the socialization as well as the influence of the media. The results of teenage pregnancy are also identified to bring consequences on the life of both mother and child. In fact, there are clinical studies that show that health risks on young women who are not physically and mentally capable in bearing a child.

Again, for Malthus in the idea of population, the only way to fight the continuous increase in population, abstinence and delayed marriage are the applicable solution. This will not make the society suffer in the food and shelter but will give the people the opportunity to perform their role in their society. This enlightens the policymakers and health workers to create an intervention to save the population growth. Therefore, here are many programs and appropriate education to prevent the continuous growth of pregnancy rate among the young adults or adolescents. But these solutions are not fully acceptable by the majority because of the ethical and morality considerations. In the end, the teenage pregnancy, early parenting, and other unplanned family settlement will contribute to the population problem of every country and for the Philippines, it will definitely deteriorate the capacity of people to perform in any sectors.

Early pregnancy represents the women in the middle of the challenges. Although most of the women in today are successful in their lives, the young mothers are often depicted as an individual who receives insufficient education, no vocational training, no stable livelihood, and other negative issues that might degrade their personality in the society. The teenagers are also stigmatized of having the powerlessness and incompetence because they do not have own motivation to continue their education or do things that might help them live. Based on the rule of the society, a person who is not a graduate of any course must struggle to live decently. Due to these common societal and parental pressures that the young mothers receive, the creation of a training which is entirely focus to help them is an important program to help the women build their own strength.

However, teenage pregnant women have few chances to complete education still have the opportunities through the various vocational training with an aim to help them live in a decent way. The use of the vocational education is another strategy being applied to facilitate the movement of the young mother towards the economic success. Through the various vocational strategies, there is a possibility to strengthen the teenagers in parenting most especially the young girls who suddenly turned into mothers. The vocational program can help the young mothers to find their inner talents or skills and boost it to use in their adventure in their new life.

Investigating the High Rate of Pregnancy among School for the Blind

Literature Review

Pregnancy has been the common problems among the teenagers. The issues of early parenting definitely affect the individual’s capacity to perform well in the society and can carve an impact on his/her whole being. The incidence of pregnancy among the teenage girls is considered a serious societal problem, not only in the Third World Countries but the nations across the globe. The continuous growth of early pregnancy is traced due the various influences coming from the sexual representations of television programs, economic and social issues, and the lack of openness in health and parenting information. There are various consequences in the early pregnancy of teenagers, they usually fail to finish their school and rely on public assistance. Clinicians also concluded that the children of teen mothers have a great potential to experience the health risks and complications (NLRC, 2005).

Significantly, the action of the government and other social workers appeared to be effective for the past years, with the aim to reduce the rate to teenage pregnancy and early parenting. However, because of the unexplained teenage pregnancy, the health organizations discovered the intervention that became popular among the young adults. There is a significant rose of abortion rates of unexpected childbirth among the teenagers. The changes in the rate of pregnancy suggested that the popularity of abortion is the option of the teenagers in escaping the dilemma of early parenting. The actions of teenagers in their pregnancy and making decisions are found in their social status and behaviors.

The status of the teenager in the society is a factor that creates a high possibility in early pregnancy. A typical or normal teenager is aware of the use of contraceptive during the sexual intercourse. This explains the responsible behavior that might affect the increase or decrease of teen pregnancy. However, if a teenager is disabled (blind, deaf-mute, bedridden, or mentally retarded) there is a possibility for increase in pregnancy. The incapacity of an individual to fight or not to respond in sexual activity is also called as sexual harassment or rape. This scenario might exist among the School for the Blind because of the disadvantage of the teenager to fight or even to report the harassment due to her blindness. Aside from being pregnant, the teenagers might also receive the HIV/AIDS that can destroy their lives (Santelli, et al., 2009). Having disabilities is the weakness of a teenage to refuse in sexual intercourse which is opposite to the assaulting person because this is their opportunity to strike with a confidence that they will not be caught.

Consequences of Being Blind

There are many aspects of blindness that are important to recognize and there is a growing interests on the consequences of being blind among the Third World Countries, like in Ghana. The education and training for the blind became the initial action of the government to support the blinds to perform as a normal person and earn income for their living. The education and training among the blind is important for the development of the entire society. Unfortunately, the progress of blind in Ghana cannot be assured towards success. Being blind can be the disadvantage of an individual against the other people. Apparently, the Braille writing system and/or sign language of the blinds seems like a mystery code for the public because of its secrecy in the public education. The government of Ghana cannot afford to fully support and implement the special needs of the blind. The Schools for the Blind in Askropong-Akwapim and Wa, in Northern Ghana are the examples of institutions for the blind, that supports the development of the blind towards their full potential and achieve their optimum effectiveness. The job market is one of the problems of the blind and the use of the technologies such as the computers might be the weaknesses of the blind. In terms of social relationship, the blinds can experience sexual harassment (Dogbe, 2004).

The unpleasant realities have negative effects for the blind person’s economic livelihood, quality of life, and social standing. Eventually, all the weaknesses or disadvantages of the blinds can reflect on the negative image of the blind in general. Moreover, they will suffer in the society if the government neglected their rights and the society maltreated them. The associations that supports the blind in Ghana are expected to formulate the effective programs and activities should center in the philosophy of empowering the blind people.

References:

Dogbe, L., (2004) Do Not Turn a Blind Eye to Blindness… The Consequences of Being Blind in Ghana, Bulletin of Medicus Mundi Switzerland, No. 92 [Online] Available at: http://www.medicusmundi.ch/mms/services/bulletin/bulletin200401/kap02/13dogbe.html [Accessed 30 July 2010].

NLRC, (2005) Teen Pregnancy among Latinas in San Diego County: Contraceptive and Abortion Attitudes and Behavior, The National Latino Research Center [Online] Available at: http://www.csusm.edu/nlrc/Fact_Sheet_Teen_Pregnancy.pdf [Accessed 30 July 2010].

Santelli, J.S., Orr, M., Lindberg, L.D., & Diaz, D.C., (2009) Galleys for: Changing Behavioral Risk for Pregnancy among High School Students in the United States (1991-2007), Journal of Adolescent Health, [Online] Available at: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/reprints/Behavioral_Risk_Santelli_JAH.pdf [Accessed 30 July 2010].