Teenage Pregnancy Social Sciences Research Paper Essay (Research Paper Sample)

Teenage Pregnancies
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Teenage Pregnancies
Over time, society has undergone a considerable transformation. While the change has resulted in positive developments, such as technological advancements and innovation, it has utterly destroyed the moral fabric. To date, teenage pregnancy has become a pandemic that threatens the future of the girl child. In the yesteryears, legislators and other policy developers had tried to curb this menace through stringent legal provisions (Katusiime, 2017). However, their attempts have been futile since consent laws coupled with the proliferation of sexual acts through mainstream media have restructured the society. A program, such as Teen Mom, mimics the role of an adolescent mother in society, thereby aggravating the impact of an existing problem (IJSR, 2016, p. 2487). The ever-dwindling consent age gives girls a notion that it is okay to have premarital sex. It is imperative for society to have an intelligent discussion about some of the appalling consensual ages that permit early sexual activities, since this legal gap predisposes teenage girls to pregnancies and a host of other sexually transmitted diseases.
Research Question
Is there an appropriate consensual age for adolescent girls to start engaging in premarital sex?
What are the feasible and functional solutions to address this scathing problem?
Hypothesis
While teenage pregnancy continues to expose young girls to an array of social, health, and educational challenges, most jurisdictions remain adamant in heightening the existing consensual age limits.
Problem Statement
In most communal or social settings, a newborn infant is a blessing that earmarks the beginning of a new life. The ideal situation requires that both parents (man and woman) be ready for the imminent responsibilities or obligations allied to rising the newborn. However, the lowered consensual age limit plays a focal role in increasing adolescent pregnancy. The policy authenticates sexual escapades between an adult and a teenager, thereby exposing young girls around the world to a myriad of unfair, yet inalienable challenges. For example, in Nigeria, teenagers as young as 11 years can legally engage in consensual sex (World Population Review, 2019). While in countries like Portugal require girls to mature until 21 years, most of the Gulf and Muslim-led nations consider all acts of premarital sex as illegitimate (World Population Review, 2019). In such republics, girls should not engage in any sexual activity before marriage. In most states in the U.S., the consensual age limit is often 16 years (World Population Review, 2019). Most girls drop out of the education system to attend to the emerging needs of the infant. This premise infers that the situation predisposes the young girls to years of illiteracy, thereby lowering their self-esteem. While the effects of teenage pregnancies continue to afflict a significant population of the girl child around the world, numerous institutions have been promoting the consensual age limits. The legal mishap has played a focal role in aggravating this existing problem, and it requires urgent redress to safeguard the lives of teenage girls from the challenges of becoming a parent at such a tender age.
A Current Policy that Affects Teenage Pregnancy