Going through school can be a difficult time for children, especially during their adolescent years. One of the most difficult points in an adolescent’s high school career is dealing with the constant pressures to engage in sexual activities. These activities may be fun and games until someone ends up pregnant and has to alter their everyday lives to balance parenthood and school. While in retrospect the adolescent mom is not the only person who is being affected by this new family member.
The complications of school would not be the only stressor on their minds at this point; in-fact life can become more complicated by adding the challenge of raising a child. As these adolescents ventures through life and experience the hardship surrounding parenthood, they must prepare for a copious amount of challenges. These challenges arise in all sorts of ways, especially economically, socially, mentally, physically, and academically. Each one of these issues is common, but with pregnancy they can escalate. There continues to be numerous studies conducted on teen mothers and their challenges.
Each study was determined to better understand what these families are going through and how to reduce the stress pregnancies can bring. Unfortunately, this was not always simple to complete, a few teen mothers needed to rely on their family members to help provide a proper life for their child. The challenges that can arise after having a child, at such a young age, can be long lasting. They can cause tons of stress, which were not known before welcoming their new child. These stresses can affect how the young mom acts, feels, and develops as the years go by.
It is important for her parents to watch for the numerous signs of depression and stress that can come with this newfound life. Raising a child, as a single parent, can bring about a plethora of complications and at times there is not a clear fix. On the other hand, her parents need to be aware of the challenges that can come when raising a teen mom, the effects this has on the family can be substantial. The mental and physical changes that can come to this household affects more than the young mom and new grandparents.
Siblings also struggle with these changes and are likely take this stress out on the sibling who “changed everything. The way this changes a household can be substantial, parents must come up with the decision on whether their new mom will continue school or drop out and work full time. The parent must decide how they will take care of another human or how they will make ends meet. While the process of having sex may seem so free and easy, there is always the possibility that these challenges will arise. There is never a guarantee that life will be outstanding and undemanding for these moms and until school is complete life can change drastically.
Deciding to keep the baby can come with repercussions and often puts an abundance of stress on the family who will soon take on these changes. Family members, including the soon to be grandparents can expect a lasting effect when deciding to keep the baby. Grandparents often visualize the effects by having to help financially and physically (Ezell, n. d. ). It is common for grandparents help financially due to the new mother’s obligation at school and making a future for herself and her new baby. Without the proper education grandparents often take responsibility of their new grandbaby for years to come (Ezell, n. . ). Unfortunately, this gives rise to a difficult decision of whether they raise the child or let the new mom pull it all off. Although it is more common for the new mothers family to be affected, the father’s family can also be affected. Having a new baby is a financial obligation to both parents, which means both sets of grandparents usually feel the effects of these changes.
More so than not this financial and mental burden seems difficult in the beginning, but soon changes as it becomes more routine (Ezell, n. d. ). These changes and uncertainties are a few of the top reasons why young omen drop out of school (Van-Pelt, 2014). These adolescent mothers who drop out do not receive the support they need while in school and often feel that leaving school is the best option (Ezell, n. d. ). Statistics show that approximately 50% of teen mothers receive their diploma, compared to the 90% of women who were not teen mothers (Van-Pelt, 2014). This is an extreme difference and has proven to be something of great consequence. Dropping out of high school can affect the annual income that these women would otherwise obtain if they were to finish school.
Studies found that the annual income of high school dropouts does not exceed $21,000, which is $11,000 less than that of high school graduates (Van-Pelt, 2014). These numbers are scary, especially when comparing them to the average income needed to support a middle class family. This income suggestion is approximately $54,000 and is a great deal larger than that of high school dropouts (Van-Pelt, 2014). A high school drop out could double their projected income and would still not meet the average income needed to support a family (Van-Pelt, 2014).
Consequently, these financial set backs begin to affect more than just the mom and her family, as the baby begins to grow there is substantial limitations that they experience. As the child begins to grow older they will begin to suffer cognitively (How Adolescent Parenting Affects Children, Families, and Communities, 2014). It is proven that children born to younger parents lack the help to develop cognitively. In fact, they can seem to be standoff-ish and emotionally distraught, leading the child down a path of hardship during their school years (How Adolescent Parenting Affects Children, Families, and Communities, 2014).
The way that this affects the child during school is evident as they begin to learn subjects like reading and writing. Unfortunately, this is so considering the adolescent does not possess the time to work with their child like they need (How Adolescent Parenting Affects Children, Families, and Communities, 2014). The effects that come with teen pregnancy by far outweigh the pleasures of having sex. The impact that it has on those around the adolescent is usually one of the last things that is thought of. Furthermore, pregnancy is usually the last thing on the adolescents mind and is usually something they are not prepared for.
As the adolescent welcomes the new baby it is often mentally, financially, and physically draining. Studies have given us a look into how difficult it can be for the affected families and the adolescents future. It is indubitably tough to financially support children and being a high school drop out with a low income can be mentally tasking, especially once the adolescents’ child gets school age. Consequently, it is important to be careful when partaking in sexual activities since becoming pregnant can alter one’s life tremendously.
