Instructions Instructions Please respond to all 6 discussion separately/INDIVIDUALLY. Please divide the words equally between the 6 responses. Discussion #1Unfortunately, teen pregnancies are something that is still seen in today’s society. Teen pregnancy poses serious health risks for the mother and the baby. There are several risk factors and precursors to adolescent pregnancy, for example, unsafe sex, child marriage, child abuse, early sexual activity, poverty, single-parent home, living in a home with frequent family conflicts, use of alcohol and drugs, and low self-esteem.
Acknowledging that teen pregnancy is prevalent it is important to arm ourselves with information, resources, and an understanding of nonjudgmental demeanor. Resources available in Arizona are the Arizona Department of Health Services and the Arizona Children Association. The Arizona Department of Health Services provides a program that “ provides youth with knowledge and skills that can be applied throughout their lives. Program models are evidence-based, age-appropriate, medically accurate, and culturally diverse and incorporate positive youth development strategies. Through the reduction of teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, and the awareness of healthy relationships and life skills including financial literacy and educational and career success.”(AZDHS, 2018) The Arizona Children Association not only teaches about preventative measures but, also provides teens with support specialists who will assist them with their parenting goals, provide education on life skills, help with employment and provide other resources such as housing.
In Arizona, the current rate of teen pregnancy is 16.6 births per every 1000 females between the ages 15-19, which has significantly decreased throughout the years. “ The 2019 teen pregnancy rate of 11.9 per 1,000 was based on 5,525 pregnancies occurring among 466,197 females aged 10-19 years. The number of 5,525 teen pregnancies in 2019 was 5.2 percent lower than in 2018 and was the lowest number of teen pregnancies since 1984.”(AZDHS, 2019) According to the CDC, the decrease in teenage pregnancy is due to more teens abstaining from sexual activity and the increase in the use of contraceptives.
References-
Arizona Department of Health Services. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://pub.azdhs.gov/health-stats/report/tp/2019/teenpregnancy2019.pdf.
World Health Organization. (n.d.). Adolescent pregnancy. World Health Organization. Retrieved January 30, 2023, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-pregnancy.
Arizona Department of Health Services. Search Results. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2023, from https://www.azdhs.gov/search/index.php?q=teen+pregnancy.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, February 25). Stats of the state – teen birth rates. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved January 30, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/teen-births/teenbirths.htm.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, November 15). About teen pregnancy. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved January 30, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/about/index.htm#:~:text=Although%20reasons%20for%20the%20declines,control%20than%20in%20previous%20years..
World Health Organization. (n.d.). Adolescent pregnancy. World Health Organization. Retrieved January 30, 2023, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-pregnancy.
Discussion #2Adolescent pregnancy has been a problem for quite a long time. Some of the risk factors of teen pregnancy are being born from a adolescent mother, single parent home, family conflict, early sexual involvement, use of alcohol and drugs, low self-esteem, lack of family support and guidance, lack of education. etc. (Youth.gov). Another main cause can be lack of access to birth control. teen pregnancy can lead to serious harm to the mother and the baby including death (CDC, 2021).
“Pregnant Teen VA” is a pro-choice foundation run to help adolescents to make safe decisions or help to go through with abortion. Those organization also helps teen mothers go through with safe pregnancy. Likewise, they provide education on birth control methods such as condoms, pills, and even emergency contraception.
“Resource Mothers” is a local resource that helps the wet pregnant and parenting teens. the main goal is to ensure a safe pregnancy and provide education and support services to other family members such as partners.
Teen pregnancy rate for the state of VA was 18.4/1,000 females whereas in 2020 the rate dropped to 13.1/ 1,000 females aged 15-19. This decrease rate of teen pregnancy is due to more awareness and education regarding protected sex and birth control.
Resources:
http://www.pregnantteenva.org/
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2021). Reproductive health: Teen pregnancy. For Teens. https://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/teens/index.htm
Youth.gov (n.d.). Risk and protective Factors. https://youth.gov/youth-topics/pregnancy-prevention/risk-and-protective-factors
Discussion #3Adolescent pregnancy has been viewed as high risk for the mother and the baby for many years. With adolescent pregnancy, there are many risk factors and precursors that may occur. Some risk factors that can cause this are “being from a single-parent home, living in a home with frequent family conflict, early sexual activity and early use of alcohol and drugs” (Youth Gov, 2011). The Arizona Department of Child Safety has resources for teen pregnancy located on their website. The Arizona Department of Health also has a whole website specifically for adolescents. Over the years teen pregnancy rates have changed. Over the years, the rate of teen births have significantly decreased. Between 1991-2020, the birth rates have decreased by 79% (Power to Decide, 2023). With more education, the rate of adolescent pregnancy is continuing to decrease each year. This also decreases the different risk factors that teen mothers may go through.
Youth Gov. (2011). Risk and Protective Factors. Retrieved on January 29, 2023 from https://youth.gov/youth-topics/pregnancy-prevention/risk-and-protective-factors
Power to Decide. (2023). Arizona Data. Retrieved on January 29, 2023 from https://powertodecide.org/what-we-do/information/national-state-data/arizona
Discussion #4Teens have an enormous number of stressors to deal with in the world today. Some are things that most kids encounter as they are growing up like relationships including friends, family and romantic, doing well in school and a lot of new decisions to make for themselves. However, some of the external stressors can be things that are hard to handle and a lot to take on them.
One external stressor that not all children will go through but many of them do, is sports. Now most of the time being involved in a sport is meant to be a fun and exciting time to be active. It seems that in the world of teen athletics today, there are more stressors than fun. It has truly become a highly competitive world and the pressure can be very extreme. Those pressures can be internal from competitiveness and desires to win but they can also be from parents and coaches with certain expectations between sports and school. Teen athletes live with different internal and external stressors every day and the research is showing that it is definitely affecting their well-being. (Weinstock, 2022).
Another external stressor common to teens is body image and the expectation of looking a particular way. With the world of social media and advertisement today teens have more access to see people they may look up to and want to be just like them. Low self-esteem and negative moods can directly be related to a body image issue but it can also be the cause to eating disorders or more unhealthy body choices. Both of the above external stressors lead to many negative choices in school, drug/alcohol abuse and even suicide for some teens. It is important for parents along with health care providers to recognize some of these signs of the external stressors and educate teens on how to cope with many of the stresses they might deal with. Some things to remind teens to cope with stresses are to focus on what you can control and let go of what you cannot (Paccione-Dyszlewzki, 2022). Make sure they have someone to talk to, proper health and nutrition, sleep and provide them with resources.
References:
Paccione-Dyszlewski, M., (2022). Teens, stress and how parents can help. Lifespan. https://www.lifespan.org/lifespan-living/teens-stress-and-how-parents-can-help
Weinstock, C., (2022). Under pressure: Are sports too intense for younger people? Everyday health. https://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/under-pressure-are-sports-too-intense-for-young-people/
Discussion #5Bullying and peer pressure are two external stressors that adolescents have to deal with commonly. Peer pressure can occur when you decide to do something you wouldn’t typically do because you want acceptance. It can be positive and negative; like choosing to dress the same way as your friends, listening to the same music, smoking cigarettes, or having sex. Bullying is an aggressive behavior where someone intentionally causes another person harm, often repeatedly. This can occur in person or through the internet (cyberbullying). Suicide and depression can result from bullying and peer pressure.
Teenagers have an increased risk for depression due to stressors like bullying, peer pressure, academic pressure, identity confusion, sexual maturation, and familial pressure (Green, 2022). When teens do not have the proper support, this can lead to suicide (Green, 2022). While suicide prevention programs can be successful, also discussing bullying and its consequences is important.
Primary prevention includes educations and skill building by offering coping mechanisms for teenage stressors (Green, 2022). This can be instituted at schools or through faith-based support groups.
Secondary prevention measures involve knowing and interfering with early warning signs like low moods, aggression, sudden changes in behavior, trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, over-eating, and reluctance to go to school. This includes programs involving suicide education and assessment (Green, 2022).
Tertiary prevention includes various facets of suicide. It could be prevention or postvention but involves support and resources for those affected by suicide. Mental health issues can occur for those affected by this. For those affected, the incorporation of support groups is crucial.
Green, S., (2022). Adolescent Assessment. In Grand Canyon University (Ed.), Health assessment: Foundations for effective practice. (2nd ed.). https://bibliu.com/app/#/view/books/1000000000584/epub/Chapter3.html#page_78
Peer Pressure and influence: Teenagers. (2019). Raising Children Network. https://raisingchildren.net.au/teens/behaviour/peers-friends-trends/peer-influence
Discussion #6
I followed your reference so I could read what you saw as well. While the say no federal law directly addresses bullying, you are right, it may overlap discriminatory harassment when occurs because of race, national origin, color, sex (sexual orientation and gender identity), age, disability, or religion (Federal Laws, 2021). Apparently, federally funded schools (this includes colleges and universities have to resolve the harassment. As to what the resolution to harassment is, I am sure that is a case by case and school basis. What I did like that I read is if you don’t feel the situation is adequately resolved you can of course file a grievance with the school district, but you can also contact the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. I hope in the future laws are put in place that hold institutions accountable, so they are unable to brush aside cases related to color, religion, sexual preference and orientation, etc.
Federal Laws. (2021). StopBullying.gov. https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/laws/federal#civil
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