On Monday, during lecture we discussed how more religious and conservative
states “red states” have a higher rate of teen pregnancies. Growing up in the south I can say first hand
that this does not surprise me at all. You are taught from a very young age at
school church and at home that you should not have sex until you are married
and that's that. Teens are just supposed to abide by this and parents kind of
turn their heads and kind of pretend that no teen is having sex.
I looked up the relationship
between highest teen birth rates and the most religiously conservative states
and with no surprise most of these states appeared on both lists.
Top 10 states with highest teen birth rates:
1. Mississippi
2. New Mexico
3. Texas
4. Arkansas
5. Arizona
6. Oklahoma
7. Nevada
8. Tennessee
9. Kentucky
10. Georgia
Top 10 most conservatively religious states:
1. Mississippi
2. Alabama
3. South Carolina
4. Tennessee
5. Louisiana
6. Utah
7. Arkansas
8. North Carolina
9. Kentucky
10.
Oklahoma
There
are a number of possible reasons for this relationship. Both religion and teen
pregnancy are correlated with poverty and lack of education. Lack of education
includes lack of adequate sex education. The areas of the US where teen
pregnancy is highest tend to be those places where comprehensive sex education
is discouraged, or abstinence is taught as the only form of sex education. In
this case, religion motivates teen pregnancy, as young people who do end up
having sex do not do it in a safe or responsible way. Another way that religion
causes teen pregnancy is in traditional attitudes toward gender, family and
marriage. More religious communities may place greater emphasis on a woman's
role as a mother and wife, and therefore undervalue female education and work.
I thought this was very interesting because I feel like these same religious and conservative states that are dealing with all of these teen pregnancies are the most judgmental and least accepting of teen pregnancies. One would think in this day and age, they would wise up and provide better education. Parents should face the facts that teens are going to do what they want, so they might as well protect them and educate teens as much as possible.
You brought up a good point with regard to connecting education (or lack thereof) to higher teen pregnancy rates, conservative attitudes, and religion. We have discussed in class how all of these factors might work together to create an environment that might produce higher teen pregnancy rates.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing to consider with regard to conservative states is that in many of these states, a larger majority of the population lives in rural areas versus "blue" states which generally have a larger majority of urban areas. This distinction is important because, as we have discussed in lecture, teens in rural areas may have even more limited access to contraceptives or preventative health care than their peers who live in urban areas because small towns prevent anonymity. If you are a young girl in a small town who is considering getting birth control, you may not feel comfortable going to your local doctor or Planned Parenthood clinic (if there even is one) because everyone in town would know you and see you going in and perhaps even tell your parents. In rural areas, even if resources are available, they are often much less accessible due to the small-town environment of that community.
I agree that it seems that parents or authority figures (like teachers or pastors) may know teens are having sex, but they do not really address the issue. Most of my sex education involved being taught that premarital sex is wrong because the Bible says so. I remember being in grade school and learning why I should not have sex, and all the reasons were related to morals or religion. The problem with this kind of teaching is that it does not fully inform teens, and sometimes the religious or moral reasoning are not strong enough to convince teens to abstain.
ReplyDeleteInstead of focusing on why sex is better left for marriage, I think it is more beneficial to have comprehensive sex education, just like what was discussed in The Education of Shelby Knox video for this week. Many teens are sexually active, and they need to know all the facts. In addition, it’s not really fair or logical to assume that teens will abstain from sex especially if they are not religious or do not consider premarital sex to be immoral. (I am not trying to say that people who are not religious or people who have premarital sex are bad people or that they are immoral; I just think they do not have the same thought process as those who have always been taught premarital sex is wrong or a sin.) This education would increase teens' knowledge of possible consequences, and it could also help them determine what kinds of contraception work for them. Then, they would know where to access the contraception, whether they can find it at school or a clinic, or maybe they need to involve their parents or go to a physician to get a prescription. I think it would also allow them to make a more fully informed decision regarding sex or contraception. I also think these programs would help inform students about sexual/reproductive health which is beneficial also.
You also make a good point when you say that religious people can be very traditional. Parents who are extremely religious or traditional may not think it is important to educate their children because they just assume that children "know better" than to have premarital sex. In addition, I think these parents may not have an open and honest relationship with their children. This can cause problems because teens feel that they need to keep their sexual activity a secret, or they may feel too intimidated to approach their parents if they suspect they may be pregnant or infected.
Some parents who are very religious may be less likely to help their children obtain contraceptives because they view this as condoning sex. This is true with birth control; there are many different issues birth control can treat (mood swings, acne, irregular periods, cramping, even anemia.) However, many parents will not give their children permission to use birth control because they feel it is an open invitation to have sex. I remember when the Gardasil shot was very new, and many parents did not want their daughters to get the shot because they felt it was condoning sex. In reality, the shot was more of a protection against cervical cancer that can be transmitted through sex. On one hand, I can understand this reasoning. However, if you were a parent and knew there was a chance your teen could be having sex, wouldn't you rather have them protected from pregnancy or infection? In addition, as a parent, I would probably prefer my daughter be protected from cervical cancer if it was possible, regardless of whether I thought she was having sex or not. I think this mindset is more realistic and understanding. Parents may not support or agree with every decision their children make, but their children will be in a much better position if parents are supportive of their interest in using contraceptives or medicines related to sexual/reproductive health.
I think this is a very interesting point that is brought up. In a bad way its semi funny that these super conservative and religious states have some of the highest teen pregnancy rates. You would think that maybe they would change their ways after years of the same problems but I guess because they are religious sex is not something that should be talked about even though in reality the way they are going about it is clearly not working. Teenagers are very curious and only telling them to not do something is not a very good way of stopping them from doing whatever they aren't supposed to be doing. People in general are very curious and like to experience things especially when they are asked and told not to without further explanations. I understand that talking to your children about sex is an awkward conversation but in my opinion its better to have them prepared and knowledgable about whats going on then oblivious and going out and doing whatever they think is the cool and rebellious thing to do. So many things can come out of not knowing enough about sex and your other partner its scary. Those parents need to get out of their olden mind set and realize things aren't how they used to be.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is interesting because I have had a lot of personal experience in this area. I went to a private Catholic school and found that when I came to the university that I was very sheltered in many areas other than sexual activities. When I was taught sex education it was abstinence only education, as described in the lead blog and comments. We were not taught about contraceptives or safe sex or teen pregnancy. The closest thing to sex ed I learned was sexually transmitted diseases in my health class. As for teen pregnancy, I learned that if you have sex you will get pregnant. And also with a religious moral conscious element, for the obvious reason that I went to a private school. I feel as a result, a lot of younger students got pregnant; three in a class of seventy.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting point that was brought up was that the conservative states known for having the highest teen pregnancy rates have many of the smaller towns where everyone knows everyone, which keeps young women from seeking appropriate contraceptives to prevent teen pregnancy. I think that this is definitely a true statement because in small southern towns communities are very close and do know the ins and outs of each others lives, at least from my experience in living in a small Georgia town as a little kid.