The topic I’m going to talk about is teen pregnancy. I feel that as a teenager, it is important to complete school and our studies. Pregnancy can cause a great impact on education and interfere with school. 

     Pregnancy comes with many consequences. It could be good or bad.  According to an article in the Star Bulletin, Hawaii teens or adolescents who have dropped out of school are two to five times more likely to have a child by the time they would complete high school.  Teens that have not gotten tested for HIV or AIDS or any other diseases get affected by them. You also can get affected by HIV and AIDS by having unprotected sex, such as oral or vaginal, with someone who is affected by it, or has been with many other partners. Another way is sharing needles, or fluids like blood with someone who is affected, or a pregnant women who is affected, and the baby could also get affected as well. This is a problem because Hawaii has the 12^th highest teenage pregnancy rate of any state, and of the 3,600 teenage pregnancies each year in Hawaii, 50 percent result births and 37 percent result in abortions.

     Many teen mothers suffer from the consequences of pregnancy. Abortion can also emotionally affect pregnant teens or adults. Abortion terminates the pregnancy of women. I also believe it is also hard for pregnant adult mothers because they have to work hard to keep their babies alive & well. But it could also be hard for teen mothers would work during school, or they have no choice but to drop out to support their baby. Some solutions or ways to prevent teen pregnancies would be to know the consequences of sex and getting pregnant. Also, knowing what birth control is and practicing safe sex. It is important because some of the birth controls don’t protect against AIDS or HIV. 

     Another way is to know how to say NO to sex. Communicating with your partner is the key in preventing the consequences that you weren’t ready for. To keep your relationship off the topic of sex or pregnancy, you could have fun or enjoy the time your with your partner by going out to eat, be there when a friend is needed, doing homework together, and many more. Although there is a high percentage in using some birth control methods, abstinence is 100% effective in preventing pregnancies and other diseases. I think it is important to live your life before you make one. To find out for more information, please contact Teen line or visit their website at www.teenlinehawaii.org. Please talk to your daughters or granddaughters about the consequences of being sexually active.  You could save her life.

By: Anna Min

These are the links I found:

http://www.fwhc.org/teens/teen-fact.htm

1. http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/
2. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_ATSRH.html
3. http://www.vahealth.org/teenpregnancyprevention/documents/TeenPregnancyConsequences.pdf
4. http://www.fwhc.org/teens/teen-fact.htm
5. http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/hivsti.htm