Research Paper :)

Anna Boardman

Sheila Allard

Written Communications

11 May, 2010



I had the hardest time coming up with a subject for this paper. There are so many things you can choose but so many of them are so original. I didn't want any original subject; I wanted something that would be interesting to me and to my readers. I was just stumped on what I should do and I got to talking to one of my good friends and she told me to do it on teen pregnancy since she recently had a baby of her own, at the age of 18.I really didn't want to do it but the more I heard her stories about it and the more I researched it, it became a lot more interesting. Especially when you come from such a small town it doesn’t happen very often compared to a bigger city and a bigger high school.


Childbirth all together is such an amazing thing; it’s a miracle that such a thing can happen to us. Even if a teen does get pregnant it is still a miracle, bringing that little baby into this world. Even a decade or so ago there was teen pregnancy, it was happened for ages and it most likely won't end. There was a Time magazine featuring young pregnant teens and it was issued in 1985. The worst part about it these days is that it's young kids, who don't want a baby, most of the time they were brought up right, or they just don't care and they will drink and smoke while being pregnant. Many of these young girls think that they can just run around with a bunch of guys and it won't happen to them, but it will. They have just as much of chance as another girl. If they are willing to run around with these boys they need to take the responsibility to have these babies, and take care of them the right way, or put them up for adoption, don't raise them learning bad habits from the get go. I have a class in the developmental building at Tc and it is absolutely ridiculous how many young pregnant girls there are in that building, and you watch them walk outside and light up a cigarette, they don't think about that poor little baby inside of them. The way they disrespect the teachers in that building is just crazy to me, I was brought up to respect anybody even if they do treat you like crap. (Time Magazine)


Money doesn't grow on trees as everybody knows that, and living expenses isn't cheap either, and think a baby on top of those other living expenses. According to Teen Pregnancy Statistics, "Teen pregnancy costs the United States at least $7 billion annually". The biggest reason for this is because the girls are still in high school and don't have a job or just plain don't want to work. Almost 95% of these teen pregnancies are unplanned. So that leaves about 5% of them that have been planned and have worked somewhat to save up money for the baby. I friends baby was unplanned leaving her without time to save up for money, she didn't find out till four months along so that really only leaves five months. Many of these teens with the unplanned pregnancy will have to rely on state money, and food stamps which isn't very fair to people I don't think, but there is not much you can do about it. We all want the baby to survive and have the best life they can have, therefore we will have to suffer and help support babies that we don't even know. (pregnantteenhelp.org)


I interviewed my friend, Rachel, and asked her a to give me and all the other teens out there some wisdom of advice for trying to avoid teen pregnancy. As Rachel stated in my interview "First words of wisdom I can give all of you guys is use protection, even they it is not 100% affective, it is better than nothing" Any teen can get pregnant if they are willing to have intercourse, Rachel was a very good student in school, made honor roll every semester. She then went on and attended college until she was no longer to with giving birth. She was a perfect high school student, nobody would have ever thought her out of all the students to be the one wound up pregnant, but it can happen. After having the baby Rachel grew up even more than one though she could have, she was more mature than any of us already, and boy did she grow up more. The affect of having such a miracle, with most girls I hope will make them mature much more and teach other girls and inform them about the causes and there affect of teen pregnancy. (Rachel J.)


There are many affects that teen pregnancy can have not just on the teen, but the family members, and the people who don't even know the child. We all strive to make sure that child has the best life that it can. It should not be looked down upon; it is such a beautiful miracle.


Work Cited:
New York Times Magazine. 126 No. 23. New York City, New York: New York Times Company, 1985.
Interview. Rachel J. United States, 2010
Web Style Guide; http://www.pregnantteenhelp.org/aboutUs.html. Universities, 2005.