Why do you think theres alot of teenage pregnancy in the UK?
 

Discuss...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...ve-408186.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7595871.stm

Because there are lots of teenagers having unprotective sex?

It's just part of the way our society has developed. We have much bigger problems with binge drinking, (with the exception of the USA), obesity etc. than most other countries.

ahhh yes...but why?
lack of education?
or just pure laziness??

Alcohol.

Because they didn't make him wear a condom and weren't on birth control.

Lack of education is often starkly to blame and i've been appalled by some of the questions asked on here. With more education, perhaps young girls (and boys) would become less flippant about contraception. I still don't comprehend the 'career move' point though; our local authority certainly isn't about to jump up and down housing a teenage parent, there's a five year waiting list at least!

In this debate, i do think it's important to recognise that 'teenage pregnancies' encompasses an age range from 13 to 19: a teenage parent may be a minor still in the care of their own parents, or they may be an adult living independently, working, married etc. That's a big spectrum to answer quite simply 'alcohol' etc.

Education. The education we received was far from sufficient.

We had quite good sex education, learning about the importance of safe sex etc. but there were still people getting pregnant.
It was mostly laziness, stupidity on their part and alcohol.

I know one girl who got pregnant at 15, she planned it as she wanted a baby. However she was lucky in that her mum was willing to look after baby whilst she went to school. That said her mum gave birth to her at 16 and grandmother gave birth to the mother at 15, so maybe therewas a genetic propensity in that case, or that the mother could hardly say "don't get pregnant as a teenager, it will ruin your life" when she herself did it.

Another girl also got pregnant at 15 in my school, she didn't know who the father was, all she knew was that his house had a cupboard in it and it was in Eston. That was a case of lots of alcohol involved.

I guess the main problem is some teenagers want the responsibilities of adulthood without giving proper thought to the consequences. I do think it's very much a cultural thing though, for example by the time I was 18 there must have been 7 or 8 girls who had attended school with me who had kids, they were all good friends with each other and lived on the same estate. Contrast that with my close friends, none of whom got pregnant. And it does seem that perhaps certain social groups find it more acceptable than others.

I had my son at 18...frankly it was stupidity that got me pregnant.

I think its a bit of a cop out to blame the parents or education and so on. Yes these factors have a huge impact on a person's choices but I knew about contraception, I knew about what would happen if I wasn't careful, it was just the age old "it won't happen to me" scenario! I was a stupid kid. End of.

I think in our society we have little emphasis on faith and morals and so on. Our lives tend to revolve around acceptance and 'having fun' Kids start drinking, smoking, doing drugs, having sex at a really young age but none of them are mentally capable of understanding these things or having any sort of emotional grasp on the consequences. No one takes responsibility because they just don't understand the importance of it...no matter how much they are told. Teenage pregnancy is just one result of it all. I know this is a massive generalisation but this is what I have gathered from my own experience with my generation.

It's society.
It's a cop-out answer, but it is. We still live in a very prudish society, where we don't talk of sex or contraception or anything. Instead of being proud of the fact that people are having safe sex, they seemed ashamed when they buy condoms, hiding it under something mundane like shampoo or a packet of crisps.

The vast majority of children probably don't talk to their parents about sex, and parents get embarrassed whilst talking to their children. I remember reading an article in some magazine a few years ago, and they were talking about sex education, and attitudes to sex in Sweden - one girl said that as soon as she had her first period, she went straight in, mentioned it to her mum, who went and showed her how to put in a tampon. That was also apparently pretty normal, and not un-representative of her friends and their relationships to sex.

We live in a society where, gosh, we don't talk of sex! It's bad thing, bad thing. Which isn't helping the younger generations (gosh, listen to me sounding like grandad) to learn what sex is, or how to be safe. Also, I think there is a lot of stigma attached to things like condoms - it's not really socially acceptable, for want of a better term, to wear a condom - I suppose what I'm trying to say is that it's seen as an add-on, a hassle, rather than as a necessity if you're having sex. Which really isn't how it should be.

I think education of sex needs to be drastically improved (which is also why I think it's great that children as young as five are getting some basic sex ed), and peoples' attitudes to sex and relationships need to become drastically less prudish - again, which I think introducing sex ed to children at such a young age will help with.
It needs to be socially acceptable to talk about sex, health, relationships, and not some huge stigma, or a way to get 'cool points' with your friends.

I agree.

But then, if you look at Europe, they drink/have sex/do drugs from a similar age. I don't think it's the lack of morals or lack of faith, I think your second point was right - it's to do with responsibility, more than anything else.

what I meant was that no one is concerned with what the 'right' thing to do in any given situation...ie wear a condom, respect their partner enough to talk it through etc. I didn't mean it in a typically religious sense or anything like that.
I completely worded it wrong. The result of my teeange pregnacy had Cbeebies on full volume :crazy: distracted somewhat...

Something in me screams it's not education, but maybe it is proven, I don't know.
What do you mean by education?

Hmm, I'm no good at debating.

In my area it's mostly so they can get a flat..

I think alcohol and condoms for some reason being seen as 'uncool' don't really help either.

I think it's attitudes in this country that are wrong rather than 'formal lessons at school'? Maybe I interpreted this wrong.

Maybe education is the thing we can change.

On the point of education, countries like Holland begin sex education much younger and explore the subject a great deal as they grow up; they're informed and also, open, in ways that alot of people aren't in Britain.

Is it boredem? do younger kids of like 12-15 do it because they're bored?....Is it out of curiosity? What ever is it...its a problem in the UK.

I understand where this opinion comes from but I don't think most teenages intentionally become pregnant - I know some do but the majority are just irresponsible. Besides getting a flat isn't as easy as people think it is. I had to go on the council list and it still took two and a half years for me to get a place

I think that you're right. The attitudes towards sex is flawed, but improved sex education could be a way to change these attitudes...I think that is where the 'education' argument comes in

I wouldn't have thought boredom is really the reason young people start having sex - i think it's more about 'looking cool' to their peers. Sex is seen as taboo which naturally makes people curious and young people often feel that breaking the mould and being rebellious is going to gain them acceptance.
Look at smoking...I know its a different subject entirely but everyone knows the disadvantages to smoking...quite frankly people try it our of curosity and look good infront of their friends.

There is such a stigma attached to being "good" when you're younger, I think that's a massive part of it all.