Teenage pregnancy

Is teenage pregnancy a bad thing? Britain has the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in Europe, despite millions of pounds being spent on sex education. The shocking case of thirteen year old Alfie Patten and his fifteen year old girlfriend Chantelle reinforced these grim statistics. Apparently the USA has the worst rates globally. An article in the Independent highlighted differences in the way sex education is taught in Holland compared to England. In Holland the emphasis is on relationships, and sex is talked about more openly .The article also blamed the ‘sexploitation’ of children, by marketing sexy clothes to that age group. It also suggested that the rise of one-parent families and breakdown of the traditional family unit was to blame. More cynically, in the West Midlands there is a belief that if you want your own accommodation you just need to get pregnant, because single mothers are seen as a priority. This apparently acts as an incentive for people to get pregnant. Is teenage pregnancy a bad thing? Is it bad to be brought up by a young single mother? Does it ruin the life of the single mother? Only time will tell how well or not the children of these teen mums turn out, and their impact on society.


http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/big-question/the-big-question-why-are-teenage-pregnancy-rates-so-high-and-what-can-be-done-about-it-1623828.html