Theoretical Framework

PEER INFLUENCES Teens want to be with people their own age — their peers. Duringadolescence, teens spend more time with their peers and without parental supervision. With peers, teens can be both connected and independent, as they break away from their parents' images of them and develop identities of their own. While many families help teens in feeling proud and confident of their unique traits, backgrounds, and abilities, peers are often more accepting of the feelings, thoughts, and actions associated with the teen's search for self-identity. The influence of peers — whether positive or negative — is of critical importance in your teen's life. Whether you like it or not, the opinions of your child's peers often carry more weight than yours.

Positive Peer Pressure The ability to develop healthy friendships and peer relationships depends on a teen's selfidentity, self-esteem, and self-reliance. At its best, peer pressure can mobilize your teen's energy, motivate for success, and encourage your teen to conform to healthy behavior. Peers can and do act as positive role models. Peers can and do demonstrate appropriate social behaviors. Peers often listen to, accept, and understand the frustrations, challenges, and concerns associated with being a teenager.

Negative Peer Pressure The need for acceptance, approval, and belonging is vital during the teen years. Teens who feel isolated or rejected by their peers — or in their family — are more likely to engage in risky behaviors in order to fit in with a group. In such situations, peer pressure can impair good judgment and fuel risk-taking behavior, drawing a teen away from the family and positive influences and luring into dangerous activities. For example, teens with ADHD, learning differences or disabilities are often rejected due to their age-inappropriate behavior, and thus are more likely to associate with other rejected and/or delinquent peers. Some experts believe that teenage girls frequently enter into sexual relationships when what they are seeking is acceptance, approval, and love. A powerful negative peer influence can motivate a teen to make choices and engage in behavior that his or her values might otherwise reject. Some teens will risk being grounded, losing their parents' trust, or even facing jail time, just to try and fit in or feel like they have a group of friends they can identify with and who accept them. Sometimes, teens will change the way they dress, their friends, give up their values or create new ones, depending on the people they hang around with. Some teens harbor secret lives governed by the influence of their peers. Some — including those who appear to be well-behaved, high-achieving teens when they are with adults — engage in negative, even dangerous behavior when with their peers. Once influenced, teens may continue the slide into problems with the law,substance abuse, school problems, authority defiance, gang involvement, etc.

If your teen associates with people who are using drugs or displaying self-destructive behaviors, then your child is probably doing the same.

Encourage Healthy and Positive Relationships It is important to encourage friendships among teens. We all want our children to be with persons who will have a positive influence, and stay away from persons who will encourage or engage in harmful, destructive, immoral, or illegal activities. Parents can support positive peer relationships by giving their teenagers their love, time, boundaries, and encouragement to think for themselves.

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Specifically, parents can show support by: Having a positive relationship with your teen. When parent-teen interactions are characterized by warmth, kindness, consistency, respect, and love, the relationship will flourish, as will the teen's self-esteem, mental health, spirituality, and social skills. Being genuinely interested in your teen's activities. This allows parents to know their teen's friends and to monitor behavior, which is crucial in keeping teens out of trouble. When misbehavior does occur, parents who have involved their children in setting family rules and consequences can expect less flack from their children as they calmly enforce the rules. Parents who, together with their children, set firm boundaries and high expectations may find that their children's abilities to live up to those expectations grow. Encouraging independent thought and expression. In this way, teens can develop a healthy sense of self and an enhanced ability to resist peer pressure.

When Parents Don't Approve You may not be comfortable about your son or daughter's choice of friends or peer group. This may be because of their image, negative attitudes, or serious behaviors (such as alcohol use, drug use, truancy, violence, sexual behaviors).

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Here are some suggestions: Get to know the friends of your teen. Learn their names, invite them into your home so you can talk and listen to them, and introduce yourself to their parents. Do not attack your child's friends. Remember that criticizing your teen's choice of friends is like a personal attack. Help your teen understand the difference between image(expressions of youth culture) and identity (who he or she is). Keep the lines of communication open and find out why these friends are important to your teenager. Check whether your concerns about their friends are real and important. If you believe your concerns are serious, talk to your teenager about behavior and choices -not the friends. Encourage your teen's independence by supporting decision-making based on principles and not other people. Let your teen know of your concerns and feelings. Encourage reflective thinking by helping your teen think about his or her actions in advance and discussing immediate and long-term consequences of risky behavior. Remember that we all learn valuable lessons from mistakes. No matter what kind of peer influence your teen faces, he or she must learn how to balance the value of going along with the crowd (connection) against the importance of making principle-based decisions (independence)

And you must ensure that your teen knows that he or she is loved and valued as an individual at home. http://www.focusas.com/PeerInfluence.html Teenage Pregnancy and the Media’s Influence on Today’s Youth In today’s society, teen pregnancy has become an issue. If you step foot into a local high school, it wouldn’t be shocking to see a pregnant student. In fact, if you asked a student if they have a friend who is expecting or has already given birth, the answer would most likely be a yes. It seems to be that any form of contraception isn’t a priority for young girls today. As the rate of teenage pregnancy rises, it seems to me that the attitude about it is more relaxed and sadly, it is seen as desirable. Some teenage girls are constantly searching for love and attention, so the more common teen pregnancy is becoming, it sends the wrong message of finding what they need to full fill that search. Is teenage pregnancy a trend? Although young girls may learn from seeing the struggles of teenage pregnancy, which may prevent them from becoming pregnant themselves, I believe some young girls are influenced by seeing their peers having children because it seems that it is now more acceptable and glamorized in today’s media. To get a better understanding of how the media has impacted this and how girls can either learn from this new trend or play monkey see, monkey do, let’s take a look at the history. Early in our culture, especially in the 1950s, it was common for teen girls to graduate and marry their high school sweethearts and have children young. Now, in the present day, women are more independent; most attend college after graduating, and some balance raising a family while holding powerful positions in their chosen career. To answer or get a better understanding on how teen pregnancy is becoming a shocking trend, first we must understand why it is an issue now as opposed to it being a common thing in the days of our parents. Today, woman are more independent and don’t have to rely on their partner to make ends meet. So why would young teens chose to get pregnant when they have the world at their fingertips, it’s almost like taking a step backward. “The three biggest reasons I see behind purposeful teenage pregnancies are to get their guy to stay, to have someone to love them unconditionally, and to create a purpose in their lives,” says Hatim Omar, MD, director of the Adolescent Medicine and Young Parent Program at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. It’s sad to know that young girls have many independent women to look up to and to show that you don’t need to rely on someone to be happy with yourself. So why are teen girls facing such low self-esteem and needing someone to feel loved? And wanting to have a baby they can’t provide for just to make them stay? The main contributor to this low self-esteem that’s driving the teenage pregnancy trend among young girls could be the media. “Just think of all the photos we see of celeb kids, like Suri Cruise and the Jolie-Pitt clan. They are rarely pictured crying and often are shown wearing designer clothes while at birthday parties or shopping for toys. Their family life seems so fun and glamorous. But most teen girls don’t have a celebrity’s cash flow or multiple live-in nannies to help take care of their babies.” The glamour and attention surrounding expecting celebrities could easily portray a false view to many young girls, but that’s just one of the contributing factors. Another media outlet influencing teens is reality television. Reality television has become popular over the past few years, especially the MTV hit 16 and Pregnant. The show follows young expecting mothers and the struggles they face. It’s a pretty real look into how unglamorous it is, not the fairy tale it is often mistaken for. With this hit show comes many questions: Is this show just feeding the trend in a negative way? Or is it helping teens in a positive way? Yes, the media does hold a lot of influence but this actually can be a positive in helping young teens to become more aware about their choices. 16 and Pregnant was going to be a hit regardless of whether it contributed to the glamorization or not, because someone took notice to the pregnancy trend and knew people would watch. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy also took notice and conducted a survey to find out how the show is influencing teens. Out of 1,008 young people, more than half watch the show and say it makes them more aware about their own risk. Among those teens, 82 percent think the show helps reveal the challenges of teen pregnancy (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.) So maybe there is such a thing as feeding a trend in a positive way. Supplying teens with knowledge and realistic views could help this curiosity that could eventually lead them toward becoming another statistic themselves. So in conclusion, I feel that yes, teen pregnancy is a trend. But if handled appropriately, it could be used to spread awareness and prevention to young teens who are the most influenced. The

media does send a lot of false images that do a lot to influence young teens; “a celebrity culture that downplays the hard work of motherhood; ever-changing family structures that normalize nontraditional arrangements; children who live at home longer than ever with parental support and aren’t expected, if they have kids of their own, to marry the father” (Gulli). Hopefully as more media outlets are choosing to show teen pregnancy and being a teen mom for what it really is, this will soon diminish the glamorization that teens seem to be so drawn to. So maybe one day, young girls will soon look up to the strong, independent women and realize that they shouldn’t have to own nice things or have to be dependent on someone be happy. They too can be successful, regardless of their race, income, etc. Not just do what they feel is expected of them and become hopeless. It’s funny to think that women were once expected to marry and raise a family, right out of high school. Now it’s a fight to show them they don’t have to choose that; they have other options and choices. Via http://www.divinecaroline.com/22097/108370-teenage-pregnancy-media-s-influence-todays#ixzz2HKGjljgT

Teenage pregnancy is one of the few issues that most people are on the same page about. In the United States at least, there is almost a universal consensus it seems that teenage pregnancy is a negative thing, and should be discouraged. The reasons given for this view are diverse. Moralizers of various sorts — especially social conservatives — seem outraged by teenage pregnancy for mainly ideological reasons. As most teens are not married, teenage pregnancy is evidence of sex before marriage, and therefore sexual impurity. For moralizers, high rates of teenage pregnancy are a sign of a decadent, immoral society that has lost its way. On this view, the harm is not teenage pregnancy really: it is premarital sex. The issue of teenage pregnancy is just a proxy through which the moralizers push their brand of sexual mores. Needless to say, this approach to teenage pregnancy is not one I find at all compelling. The next reason teenage pregnancy is so opposed is economic. Teenage mothers, it is said, fare poorly for the rest of their lives. They are less likely and able to get an education, face limited job possibilities, and so on. From this, people conclude that teenage pregnancy causes these negative economic outcomes, and that it therefore should be discouraged. This conclusion also serves the ideological purposes of those who wish to deflect away from the high rates of poverty in the U.S. by attributing those rates to the prior bad decisions of the impoverished. This raises an interesting empirical question though: does teenage mothering actually have negative economic consequences for those who undertake it? It might seem obvious that it does, but according to a recent study, the answer is actually no. When comparing teen mothers with similarly situated teens that had miscarriages, the researchers found only a small and short-lived difference in economic consequences. Comparisons of teen mothers with their non-mothering sisters produced similar results.

The reason teenage mothers end up poorer than average is because they are already poorer and therefore on a poorer economic trajectory. That is, high rates of teenage pregnancy are a feature of poverty and inequality, not a cause of it. Those who wind up as teenage mothers are, for the most part, already on track for poorer economic outcomes. This connection between high inequality and high rates of teenage pregnancy is observable among American states and internationally. For those worried about teenage pregnancy and poverty, it turns out that tackling poverty requires actually tackling poverty: teenage pregnancy is only a symptom. So, the two main discussions people have about the ills of teenage pregnancy are not very convincing. The moralizing approach appeals to a certain social conservative faction in the country, but not to those who have different views on sexual morality. The economic approach mixes up causation and correlation, and falls apart when confronted with empirical data. However, there is one reason to be worried about teenage pregnancy that does not rely on either of the two main approaches: personal autonomy. The possibility of children parents poses a difficult problem for personal autonomy. Having a child has profound consequences for the rest of someone’s life. At age 15, we can reasonably think a person is not ready to fully appreciate those consequences, and make a fully-informed — and therefore free — choice. Discouraging teenage pregnancy then can be justified on the same grounds that we discourage dropping out of high school. Both decisions are free and autonomous in some sense, but many of the kids making such decisions lack the kind of appreciation for their consequences necessary to make them intelligently. This approach to teenage pregnancy sharply differs from the two above. It does not rely upon sexual shaming or specious economic arguments, and it centers the autonomy interests of the potential parents. If we are going to make sense of discouraging teenage pregnancy, it should probably be on those grounds. http://mattbruenig.com/2012/05/21/teenage-pregnancy-and-poverty/

Causes of Teenage Pregnancy Facts Substantiating the Teenage Pregnancy

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Lack of affection and supervision of parents’ leads to the teenage girl’s getting pregnant. A survey says that in underdeveloped countries approximately 13 million children are born to teenage girls.

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Though the teenage pregnancy is speculated to exceed the figure 90%, large percentage of it is restricted to USA and Sahara African only.

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USA tops in teenage pregnancy and teenage abortion in the world. Elements Contributing In Teenage Pregnancy

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Anxiety - Curiosity towards sex and a desire to feel it in the company of some boys exhorts the teenage girls and get involved in doing whatever is pleasurable leading to adolescent pregnancy.

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Open Culture- Freedom to interact with opposite sex and spend considerable amount of time with them in seclusion, has resulted in teenage pregnancy.

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Frustration- Indifference on the part of parents creates a great frustration amongst the teenagers, pushing them to seek affection and love from their boy friends.

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Lack Of Sex Education- Lack of sex education, particularly to the teenage girls are the major cause of teenage pregnancy.

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Sex Abuse- Unaware of sexual results, maximum number of teenage girls opts for sex out of enjoyment that results in pregnancy. http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Health/teenage-pregnancy.php

Reasons of Teenage Pregnancy Lack of sex education is the most important but not the only cause of teenage pregnancy. Following are some other teenage pregnancy causes that can not be ignored. • Psychological factors: The immature and irresponsible behavior arising due to complex teenage psychology is another important cause of teenage pregnancies. Teenagers often go through a number of emotions because of their own transition from childhood and peer pressure. In addition, weak family relationships fail to provide the emotional support that teenagers require. This lack of attention and affection from family resulting in depression forces them to seek love and support from other people, especially members of the opposite sex. • Adolescent sexual behavior: As adolescence marks the onset of sexual maturity, it is but obvious that both the sexes show interest in and explore the much hyped topics of sex, thank to the irresponsible and careless approach of mass media. This makes them vulnerable to teenage sex and pregnancy without adequate sex education. Lack of sexual education causes teens to get abortions as they ultimately realize their inability to bear the responsibilities of being a parent at such a young age. • Lack of discipline and control: Factors like alcohol and substance abuse accompanied by unrestricted interaction with the opposite sex can ignite the

sparks of lust and passion in youngsters very easily ultimately leading to teenage pregnancy. Nonetheless, at times, parents put too many restrictions of their children, especially girls to protect them from dangers. This overprotection gives rise to frustration and a feeling of not being loved and cared for. Thus, balance is the key to avoid this problem. • Socio-economic factors: Childhood environment, lower educational and income levels have also been associated with high rates of teenage pregnancy because of negligence towards birth control methods. • Sexual abuse of teenage girls is also one of the most disgraceful causes of teenage pregnancy. Sexual relationships between teenage girls and older men are more likely to end up in teenage pregnancy as compared to sexual relationships between teenage boys and girls.

Read more http://www.speedyremedies.com/what-are-the-causes-ofteenage-pregnancy.html Teenage pregnancies in Philippines rise 70-percent over 10 years - UNFPA LEGAZPI CITY, Albay - Teenage pregnancies in the Philippines surged by 70 percent over one decade, a ranking official of the United Nation Population Fund Agency (UNFPA) said on Monday. Ugochi Daniels, UNFPA country representative, said the rising number of teenage pregnancies in the country is an area of concern that the agency is giving serious attention to, exposing as it does adolescent girls (10 to 19 years old) to high risk. Daniels said a strong advocacy campaign is needed to educate and advise young Filipinas about the dangers posed by early pregnancies, and to inform them about reporductive health in general. She added that the teen pregnancy concern, if not given focus, can derail and affect the country's program targets with respect to its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). At 53 births per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 19, the teenage pregnancy rate in the Philippines is the highest among Asean's six major economies, the United Nations Population Fund's 2011 annual report says. Government statistics on female adolescent pregnancies indicate that the total number of annual births changed little over the preceding 10 years, but the number of teenage pregnancies rose 70 percent, from 114,205 in 1999 to 195,662 in 2009. Based on data compiled from birth certificates, of the 1.75 million live births in 2009, the latest review year, over 11 percent involved teenaged mothers. On Monday, Daniels and Albay Governor Joey Salceda signed a Letter of Understanding (LOU) to jointly undertake population development programs in Albay. Salceda said the joint partnership carries a P40-million funding spread over a five-year project timeline starting this year. He said the fund will be used to carry out reproductive health projects in the 15 towns and three cities of the province.

The project involves an information-education campaign on RH on women, youngsters, HIV AIDS; trainings, and the pursuit of MDG components on maternal health, reduction of child mortality, promotion of gender equality, combating HIV/AIDS and eradication of poverty.