UNplanned Parenthood

Most young girls don't dream of starting out their high school years altering their homecoming dresses to fit the 30 lbs. of belly weight they gained all because they had a one night stand with Billy in fourth period and now they are strolling a new born to the football games.  At least, that isn't what most girls have planned during their teenage years.

The problem in today's society is this scenario is all too familiar. 1/3 of all girls in the U.S. will get pregnant in their teen years and more than 2/3 of all teenagers who have a baby will not graduate from high school as reported by Pregnancy Statistics. This is a troubling thought considering getting an education and obtaining descent grades already seems to be a daunting task to students in the U.S. today.

The problem is that billions of dollars are going towards unwed mothers to support both themselves and their babies. According to The Wall Street Journal, as mentioned by Blog Heritage, noted that “Unintended pregnancies likely cost the federal and state governments more than $11 billion a year,” based on research published by the Brookings Institution. This has led to many troubling futures for the children born to these uneducated and adolescent mothers. They are at risk for living in poverty and being trapped in the low-income bracket because they become dependant on welfare and in turn hurt our economy. Taxpayers are pumping their money into the mouths of children who obviously were unplanned instead of back into our economy. Instead of flourishing our nation, we are hurting it by enabling young unwed teens to become codependent on the government; therefore, almost glamorizing teenage pregnancy.

Another main factor is that morals are not advocated in households today and parents are not speaking to their children about the importance of being married as well as financially stable before becoming a family. With sex being glamorized in the media now more than ever before, it is easy for even parents to be more lenient with their children on core values because it is becoming the norm to have one night stands advertised in Cosmopolitan or the term "hooking up" in Seventeen magazine.

According to a new federal study as reported by Christian Science Monitor, women with a college education are much more likely to be married than are women who have never graduated from high school. And men and women who married after the age of 25 have lower divorce rates than couples who were married at younger ages. This again goes back to teenage pregnancy and the threat it posses to our communities and economy. With television shows such as 16 and pregnant it almost makes the whole process look easy. It shows teens getting engaged and the new parents being supported in two different households by their own parents and 9 out of 10 times the teen father usually backs out of the emotional and financial support he is supposed to provide to his partner.

Without the promotion of waiting until marriage and talking to your child, we will continue to have a growing nation and a growing problem. Divorce rates will continue to sky rocket because teens will see how hard it is to raise a child while trying to attend school and work. Until more campaigns are featured in school to stop this epidemic then communities and our economy will continue to struggle.