"In 2000, 83.6 in 1000 women aged 15-19 became pregnant-a 28% decline from 1990, when the teenage pregnancy rate reached a high of 116.9 per 1000 women." Taken from http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2004/02/19/index.html
In today's society, you still see many teenage girls who are getting pregnant at such a young age. There is still a high percentage of young girls getting pregnant. I personally think that its great that there is a decreasing percentage from the past statistics, but at the same time its still not enough. Majority of these girls arent ready. They still need to keep up with school, and on top of that, babies arent free so they need jobs.
My thoughts on the solution for this, is to start daughters on birth control almost as soon as they are able to use it. Not just to prevent them from getting preganant, but becuase birth control is great for other things as well. Now, i do realize that most moms would consider this, but I know I wish my mom told be about it and thought of getting it for me when I began having my periods. I used to be sick as a dog every single time I had my period, so that meant that about every other month, I missed a day of school or left early cause I was in soo much pain. And yeah i would take medicines to try and ease the intense pain of my cramps, just that didnt help one bit. So, when I finally got my mom to take me to a gynecologist, after years of always getting sick, i asked for anything that would take away the intense pain and unpleasant sickness i got.
So, i ended up on birth control and it makes everything almost 110% better every month, and i just feel better all around the clock! On top of that, Im less likely to get pregnant!
So, my question is, would it be soo bad if moms just talked to their daughters about birth control and got it for them anyways, just in case?? Cause i mean, even if its just for sex, you know its going to happen someday, and it may not. But if it did, wouldnt you feel at least a bit better about it knowing that your daughter is on birth control, so theres that fewer bit of a chance of her getting pregnant and becoming a statisitc??...
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Just something I noticed... they are saying that just under 84 out of 1000 girls are getting pregnant. That's like 8.36% not 83.6%.
The conservatives will be all over that -- giving birth control to young girls...
Just thought you should know this, though: 83.6 out of 1000 equates to 8.36%. Your decimal place is in the wrong spot. I just felt I should point this out, because 4 out of every 5 girls being pregnant seemed awfully high when I read the title.
Back to the topic, though, I'd say that increased awareness about birth control might be a good thing. There's always the cost, though. Birth control costs money. And we need to get rid of abstinence-only education.
thanks for catching that for me! will change that
It seems like a good idea in theory: giving girls birth control to avoid so called "accidental" pregnancies, but the reality may swing the other way. It might make girls more active when younger and lead to other problems.
However, mothers need to have the important talk with their daughters to ensure their safety and health.
By giving kids birth control, we're pretty much saying that it's ok to have sex when your still a kid. I really don't think that that's a good idea...I know that I sometimes get pretty bad cramps as well...but usually Motrin or Advil works for me.
Well we have to decide, are sti's worth it? If we give kids birth control pills we are promoting the spread of sexual diseases, while one could say we are stopping pregnancy which is the worst sexual disease of all, but we cannot do that. What needs to be taught it proper condom use. I have no problem with readily available rubber.
Well I understand your point, about them thinking its okay. But I think by teaching them that its not okay and getting them to understand the consequences, would possibly help. Idk, show pictures of what std's can do and all the consequenses. Ive seen what they look like in pics, when you get them and honestly, it does instill some fear of just having sex with just anyone and at a young age.Get teens to try the best to understand that taking the step to having sex has risks and those can go with them the rest of their life. Idk, im just a teen with an idea, i know it doenst really matter much what i think cause there are always going to be others who disagree. But this is my idea of a solution. And it doesnt just have to be with birth control, cause yeah condoms are out there too, which help to prevent std's and pregnancy. I think its great that places like planned parenthood will give out a bag full of them. Idk, i just think that if condoms are so easy to get ahold of, maybe birth control should be too.
.......and as for just taking Motrin or Advil, those dont seem to do much but make me feel just as sick. I guess you could say my cramps can sometimes be like a migraine down there....
There's pros and cons to birth control in all its forms. I'm assuming you're on the most common - the Pill. There are, however, a number of different birth controls, including, but not limited to:
Otho Evra ("the patch")
Depo Provera ("the shot", three months)
Yasmine (another pill)
Lunelle (one month shot)
NuvaRing (exactly that, a ring)
Intrauterine device (there's a name for it, but I can't remember it)
More can be found here.
The first five are hormonal birth controls, the sixth sometimes is, but there's also a nonhormonal variant. These will, of course, have the side effects of...well, screwing with your hormones. For a lot of women and teenagers, this is a good thing, since most of the pros are (aside from not getting pregnant):
Acne control
No periods, infrequent periods (once every three months), or more controlled periods
Less painful periods
Lighter periods
There are, however, cons and negative side effects to birth control, which can affect whether or not any given woman can use any form.
The usual include weight gain and occasionally the acne control thing backfires.
Among some of the rarer and possibly more severe things:
Ineffective (ie - even when using it properly, you still get pregnant)
Depression
Blood Clots (Ortho Evra has been found to cause fatal blood clots in a few women)
Sterilization (this is thought for all forms of hormonal birth control and the chances increase the longer a women is on it, but it usually takes upwards of 10 years or more).
It should also be noted that the idea of 15-19 year olds being "young" mothers is a relatively new, semi-isolated (to developed countries) concept. In many cultures, and for many years, people as young as 13 were considered adults and treated as such, including being expected to marry and start having a family. In my opinion, the idea that teenagers aren't emotionally ready to have kids is more because society still treats them as children. When handled well, even a 13-year-old mother can still lead a productive life.
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?