One of the lowest teen pregnancy rates in the country happens to be in Wokingham, England. The number of teenage pregnancies have dropped by more than a quarter since 1998. Residents in the town have credited sex education and counseling as a reason for the decrease.

Do you think that if we apply the same effort as Wokingham, would we ever be able to see a decrease in the US?

Working in a hospital I often encounter alot of teenage mothers. Most of the times these girls will be coming to their doctor visits alone. You dont often see their boyfriend or parent accompanying them and that is just the reality of this situation.

A family member of mine became pregnant at 14 years old. It was very devastating to our family to experience that. through her decision she decided to have an abortion. I guess that she felt that she or the childs father would not be able to support this baby when they were just baby's themselves.

This is a video that I found on youtube which caught my attention due to the So called Pregnancy Pact that was created by these teenagers in High School. I think that girls like these are the ones that we need to focus on to encourage them that having babies is not a Game. This is real life and these children being brought into this world are real babies that they will have to support and care for.

The Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group also known as TPIAG was set up in 2000 to advise the government on the teenage pregnancy strategy and to monitor its effect. TPIAG was put in place to tackle the causes and consequences of teenage pregnancy.

The teenage pregnancy strategy's goals are to: 

- Cut the rate of conceptions to under 18 by 2010

- Increase the participation of teenage parents in education, training and employment.

Commenting on the teenage pregnancy figures Liberal Democrat Children Spokesperson, Annette Brooke said: "The Government has failed to treat this country's scandalously high teenage pregnancy rate with the urgency it needs. it looks like the progress that had been made is being reversed."

I think that young children need to be listened to in regard to how they want to learn about sex. We need to find out how they feel more comfortable learning and talking about sex education. 

Many people dont know that Teenage Pregnancy is a very complex problem. In other countries they welcome it, but in our western society they present a larger problem.

The National day to prevent Teen Pregnancy is May 6, 2009. This is an important date because this is a day that many parents and teenagers need to be involved with. too many teens think that "It cant happen to me". Meaning that I cant get pregnant because I am using protection. These teens do not know that Abstinence is the only protection that is 100% effective.

In January 2009, the CDC confirmed that the birth rate has increased 3% between the years 2005 and 2006. which is the first increase after 14 years of steady decline.

Some interesting facts to know are:

-About 1 in 4 teen mothers under age 18 have a second baby within 2 years after the birth of the first baby.

- About 3 in 10 teenage girls become pregnant at least once before age 20.

-More than 750,000 teenagers become pregnant each year, and about 442,000 give birth.

What some of these teenagers don’t understand is that life as a teen mom may be very difficult. If they don’t have the financial support to take care of the baby, their life will be very stressful.

Gill Francis, chair of the Teenage Pregnancy Advisory group, said the expected rise today was "challenging". Teenage Pregnancy is a very complex issue, and we know what needs to be done Ms Francis said. The way that we can have an effect on lowering the numbers is by working with young people educating them on sex and encouraging parents to talk to their children.

In Nevada City a young teenager named Celine Randall says it was a day that she cannot forget. Celine claims that a counselor at her middle school took her out of her class, confronted her about pregnancy rumors and then forced her to urinate in a cup for a pregnancy test.

She states that he made her do it and that she was very confused about the whole situation. Her parents who are filing a lawsuit wanted to know if they meaning the school were concerned, why they didn’t get other people involved. They felt that the counselor violated their child’s right to privacy. The staff at the Middle school refuse to comment on the situation.

Celine’s pregnancy test came out to be Negative and proved that she is not pregnant.

Ok so my whole Issue with this is why did the school counselor allegedly even get involved with a female teenage pregnancy rumor. If he felt that he was doing well by forcing her to take a pregnancy test, then he was clearly wrong. I think that this counselor overstepped his boundaries and took it too far. We want to encourage teen to stop having sex at an early age to help prevent the rise of teen pregnancies and STDs. We do not want kids to be embarrassed by their peers. These children have to feel comfortable to talk to us about sex, and if we follow in the steps of the counselor at the middle school that will never happen.

Britain currently has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in Western Europe

A British boy becomes a dad at 13 years old, and the teen mother gave birth at just 15 years old. When you hear something like this, it makes you wonder why are children this young having sex and why is that sex without protection? Are we not teaching our children of the serious outcomes t hat unprotected sex can bring, like babies and STD’s.

The British government is attempting to solve the country’s teen pregnancy problem by telling parents to encourage their teens to make a trip to the local clinic and make the “choice that’s right for them”. Some Christian groups have expressed opposition the new Sex Ed recommendations.

The government wants parents to make sex talk in the household an everyday life discussion. They want the parents to start these discussions before their children hits puberty.

The pamphlet that is being distributed by the British government on March 5 in pharmacies all across the country includes a guide to the different forms of contraception that is available for use. It also tells parents to support their children by going to the clinic with them or have them take their friend if they feel more comfortable.

While I do not agree with the government attempting parents to force their children to have an abortion, I can only agree with the fact that they realize they have a problem and they are trying to fix it.

DID YOU KNOW

I watched the YouTube video Did You Know as directed by Prof Daniels, and it was a very amazing video on the progression of Information Technology. The video threw out statistics that were quite shocking because I really did not know any of those interesting facts.

my 2 favorites were the # of texts sent daily exceeds the population of earth and by 2013 supercomputers will be more powerful than the human brain. to me that is just mind boggling to even think how our world is so dependent on technology.

I think that our world is going at a very fast pace and we need to slow down before technology completely takes over. I do not think that the video is Xenophobic because it just compared facts of the US, India, and China. In no way does the video imply that it has a fear or dislike of people from other countries.

A lot of teenagers do not plan to get pregnant, but many do. There is a great amount of teenagers that carry extra health risks for themselves and the baby. Sometimes these teens will not get the prenatal care that they need to get and will continue to abuse their body by doing drugs or drinking alcohol not knowing that they are pregnant.

Data supporting teen pregnancy as a social issue says that most teens that are in areas that have higher rates of poverty, low education levels and other " childhood outcomes" have a greater risk of becoming a statistic of teenage pregancy.

Not only do these teenagers have minimal income, they also do not have the proper education required to get a good job to provide for themselves and their child. In turn they end up going on welfare and in some cases, they stay on welfare all of their lives. In the United States, the annual cost of teen pregnancies from lost tax revenues, public assistance, child health care, foster care, and involvement with the criminal justice system is estimated to be about $7 billion.

I think that in order to effectively lower the birth rate of teens having babies, they need to be better educated about having sex and the consequences that come from it. As I said before parents need to get more involved with their children’s lives and inform them that having a baby at an early age is not something that should be taken very lightly.

I can speak from experience myself of going through teenage pregnancy, because I became pregnant at 18 years old with my daughter who is now 4. I didn’t become one of the unlucky ones who had to go on welfare and receive help because I was already finished with high school and working at a law firm as a file clerk. I also had the support of my family and my child’s father whom I am married to now.

We as a society need to get more involved and become aware of the staggering rise of teens having babies. We cannot turn our back on these children that need us. I am trying to help bring awareness to this growing epidemic that is occurring all over the world.

When we as a society think that its ok for a 16 year old teen to become pregnant, then I think that something is very wrong. VP elect Sarah Palins daughter brought up the issue of teen pregnancy. Why was it okay for her daughter to parade around like she won some kind of award? Is this the way that our children should view teenage pregnancy?

In Cleveland County, NC the High Schools have Implemented a program called Abstinence until Marriage. They have teenage girls walk around the school with a empathy belly, which is known as the fake pregnant belly. This is due to that fact that NC has a teenage pregnancy rate at 19% above the national average, with Cleveland Countys being higher than that 19%. The program has yet proved to be effective with keeping teenage pregnancy down.

Teen pregnancy in America is an epidemic that is clearly seeing high numbers. According to an article published on google news, evidence shows a link between the frequent use of alcohol and unsafe sex leading to unplanned teenage pregnancy.

When it comes to views of why most teen girls get pregnant I dont think that they were somehow influenced by the media but I do agree that the media; including videos, and the music industry play a major role in how teenage girls and boys view sex and their personal identities.

I think that parents need to get more involved with their childrens lives. they need to set stricter curfews, and know what their kids are doing when they are not home. It might sound like a difficult task, but every effort is worth not having your 13 to 18 year old child having an unplanned pregnancy.