Welcome to Pregnancy Guide
Teenage Pregnancy Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
You may also listen to this article by using the following controls.
Getting to the Root of the Causes of Teenage Pregnancy in Jamaica
from:Before 20 years of age, at least 20% of Jamaican women have been pregnant at least once. The economic, political, and socio-cultural environments in Jamaica seem to influence the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy and are found at the heart of the causes of teenage pregnancy in Jamaica.
Jamaica has unfortunately experienced alternatively a period of marginal economic growth and negative growth in recent times. What funds the country has are funneled into dealing with the enormous budget deficit and are subtracted from important social programs such as assistance to young girls to teach them about sexuality and contraception. There is a terrifying lack of easily available contraceptives and youth friendly services are extremely rare.
Many experts believe that one of the major causes of teenage pregnancy in Jamaica is ignorance regarding proper sexual behavior and consequences. Indeed, 48% of males aged 15-19 do not always use a condom with their regular partner, and 41% do not use a condom with their non-regular partners. The reason why boys do not always use condoms is that they don’t like them. When examining females, 60% do not always use a condom with their regular partner and 46% do not always use a condom with their non-regular partner. Females claim that they don’t use condoms with partners that they know well. A large number of teenage boys are not aware of the correct use of a male condom, while the majority of young girls are not aware of the existence of a female condom.
Social traditions also contribute to the causes of teenage pregnancy in Jamaica. Jamaican women see motherhood as an assertion of status and identity and a way to eliminate any suspicion of infertility. A young girl, however, receives mixed messages about pregnancy, as the strong Christian background present in Jamaica means that there are taboos against sexual behavior in girls. These Christian beliefs have caused Jamaican society to adopt an “abstinence only” approach to teenage sexuality and any further communication with adolescents regarding puberty, the maturation process, sexual intercourse, and contraception, is non-existent. Because of this taboo, yet another of the causes of teenage pregnancy in Jamaica, adolescent boys and girls are even hesitant to buy condoms on their own in their own communities. Young girls, then, engage in sexual activities often without protection and without being fully aware of the consequences.
As in other developing nations, there are a number of myths that surround pregnancy and sexual activities, and these are further causes of teenage pregnancy in Jamaica; girls turn to these myths instead of medical facts. Studies show that a large number of girls in Jamaica believe that douching with Pepsi after sex or having intercourse in the sea will prevent pregnancy. The persistence of these myths in Jamaican society is yet another expression of the ignorance in which many young girls find themselves when dealing with their sexuality.
Teenage Pregnancy Specific links
Teenage Pregnancy News
US teenage pregnancy cult to feature in BBC3 documentary - Guardian Unlimited
BBC3 is to broadcast a fast turnaround documentary about the 17 teenage girls from the same US Catholic school who all became pregnant at the same time. The 60-minute special, which has the working title American Pregnancy Cult, will investigate ...
Read more...ABC Family Launches 'Cautionary' Television Series That Addresses Teen ... - Medical News Today
ABC Family on Tuesday premiered a "cautionary" television series that plans to address issues including teenage pregnancy, and abstinence, the New York Times reports. The series was made in collaboration with the National Campaign To Prevent Teen and ...
Read more...Royal College of Psychiatrists: Specific guidance needed for treating ... - Politics.co.uk
Specific guidance for the assessment and treatment of teenage pregnant substance misusers is needed, according to a new study. UK teenage pregnancy and substance misuse rates are the highest in Western Europe, and result in increasing numbers of ...
Read more...Sex education 'should begin at four' - BBC News
Mandatory sex and relationship education for children as young as four is needed to reduce the rising teenage STI and abortion rate, according to two leading sexual health charities. Brook and Family Planning Association (FPA) claim the government is ...
Read more...Four-year-olds 'should be given compulsory sex education' - Daily Telegraph
Under the news plans children would be taught the names of body parts and basic ideas about different relationships. Brook, the fpa (formerly the Family Planning Association) and the Sex Education Forum said the basic sex education children currently ...
Read more...No coasting on results, Balls tells schools - Times Online
Schools judged to be either “coasting” on their good results, or doing too little to reverse poor performance, will face the threat of direct intervention from central government. Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, outlined new powers yesterday to ...
Read more...Our readers' views: July 5 - Columbian
Ellen Goodman’s June 28 opinion column, “Let’s make a pact to address teenage pregnancy,” on the rising rates of teenage pregnancy was on target. She concludes that we spend “way too little time talking to kids” about sex and “sexual ...
Read more...