Teenage Pregnancy

I. Teenage Pregnancy

A. Teenage pregnancy is an issue all over the world, especially in the United States. Something has to be done about this and we all need to wake up and realize that many teenagers are vulnerable and need more guidance.

B. I will be researching many of the problems that teenagers face when they chose to have unprotected sex and end up with an unwanted pregnancy and what their options are.

C. The topic I chose is teen pregnancy. I chose this topic because I have experienced firsthand a teen pregnancy at the age of 16 when I became pregnant and made the ultimate sacrifice of giving my baby up for adoption, which I think was the best decision I could have made for my baby and myself. Teen pregnancy has been an issue for many years and I believe it has grown even more from when I was a teen over 20 years ago. Even with all of the education on the subject I think it is still continues to rise. There are a lot of parents that don't sit down with their kids and openly talk about sex and the consequences they could face by making bad decisions. There are also a lot of teens out there that don't have the parental guidance they need to make the right choices, either because of single parent households or parents that just plain don't care what their kids do. A lot of kids go looking for love in all the wrong places and feel a need to fit in anywhere they can and when someone pays them that little extra attention they don't think of the consequences they could face and make bad choices.

II. Teenagers face a lot of drama and pressure from other teens, I want to argue that adults need to be more supportive and listen to their kids and let them know their options and how to make better choices.

A. Since I have experienced teen pregnancy for myself, I want to speak about how teens have options for their decisions and how there are consequences for their actions.

B. I will share the experience I had when I found out at the age of 16 that I was pregnant.

C. There are lots of topics on teen pregnancy and I want to discuss what we all can do to help curtail the problems teens face in making bad choices.

III. Teen mothers are at a higher risk for complications in their pregnancies because they are scared to tell their parents and may not get the proper prenatal care they need.

A. By not getting the proper prenatal care early in the pregnancy, teen mothers may be malnourished which can further complicate their pregnancy and put their baby wellness in jeopardy.

B. Other complications could involve premature births, birth defects or even fetal death.

IV. What discussions should parents have with their