Teen pregnancy is viewed in many ways such as good and bad. Others view it as teens are not capable of taking care of a child and succeed as a person. Also, teens are put on the spot to whether they’re going to prevent teen pregnancy. As those who ask for help are provided the help and the knowledge they’ll need. Some present it as a virus going around or avoiding all types of sex will prevent pregnancy. Women of all ages get the harassment or labels put onto them when becoming pregnant or deciding to be a parent.

It seems that older women do not support younger women to become pregnant although both are capable of creating children of their own. Older women do not have the same amount of qualities as a younger woman who is healthier. Although older women will have access to financial resources, co-parenting if necessary, and daycare. These are some of the disclaimers that younger women don’t have access to which creates inequalities between the two. At a young age such as 16, it’s possible that they won’t be able to finish high school due to the many opportunities that are cut from pregnant women. Not only that but there’s less support to help those to finish high school or enter college. Overall any age the parent is without the proper resources they’ll need to have high expectations.

The central issue is the lack of resources, money is put into “preventing teen pregnancy”, but yet there’s no or little effort of daycares in high schools and colleges, there’s little counseling, schooling, and housing. So much money is put to develop fertility therapies for those moving outside their reproductive years but yet so little for those who just become pregnant. Adults make policies for teens without their input or control and then when failed it’s seen as it’s the teens' fault. Such as support is failed, poor sex education, and awful relationships. “Prevent teen pregnancy” is also being influenced in many ways, some of which then creates bias, carelessness, and disrespect. These teens are being doubted who then doubt themselves and feel as if they’re isolated or to further their isolation. Men also are involved in these certain prevention types which is the given rate of sexual violence but yet they’re not educated or getting educated themselves.

Another problem is sexual and reproductive lives are areas where ageism is constantly progressing from adults. “Are we also sure, that as can happen, that older people are not harboring a desire for their children to do as well as them, but not to surpass them? In other words, what if—just what if—a young teen mother really could "have it all"? What if she could be a good parent and finish high school, finish college, have the career she wanted, have all she envisions her life to be? By all means, that scenario might feel mighty frustrating for generations before who did not have the cultural or interpersonal supports or resources to achieve all of that…”

Approaching women who are pregnant does not come clear to the point of women and young women but only towards pregnancy and pregnant women. There always has been a problem with culture, women’s bodies, and reproductive systems that are treated like collective property. These include laws, policies, practices, and initiatives about pregnancy being informed by everyone who is or who will be pregnant. But on the other hand teen pregnancy is not being treated with the same respect. In which “preventing unplanned pregnancy” is also an issue as a sexuality educator who also knows many others don’t understand the reproductive system. They also don’t know most pregnancies are unplanned to some degree but when more people are educated they’ll then know how to approach pregnancy. “If you're still stuck on prevention as an approach, why not try making it about helping teens to prevent unwanted pregnancy or unwanted parenting?” “...help women of all ages to understand what all their possible choices are for their whole lives, to have a good idea of what making any given choice can entail, the possible positives and negatives alike, and how it could impact them and others. What you probably really want to do is to help young people, all people, make choices around sex, pregnancy and parenting which are most likely to result in a happy, healthy life, and the life any given person most wants for themselves and those in their lives. What you also probably want to do is work just as much towards creating a culture of support for those who do become pregnant…"

Interpretation:

This article provided a lot of information on the topic of teen pregnancy in many ways. Such as mentioning that it not only involves females but also males who need to also be educated on their part. Not only that but older women seem to have a better view and perspective on pregnancy. Also, the fact that there are more support systems such as fertility therapies for older women but there’s little for those who are pregnant. When in doubt there should be an equal amount of programs for those who are in need so that it does not create conflict between all ages of women. It was also mentioned that adults who shame or doubt young teen mothers shouldn’t because it only puts them in a position where they’ll want to isolate themselves. A friend of mine tends to feel this way because of the lack of respect she gets from her family. They’ve doubted her which makes her feel as if she isn’t doing enough for herself and her baby. This affects her mental health which is not good because with a bad state of mind she’ll want to give up.

On January 4, 1975, sponsored by Senator Henry M. Jackson and signed by President Ford was the bill Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act. This was “a milestone” said Ford which includes Indian tribes to operate with federal programs and receive grants for funding these programs. After the civil rights movement and the nationalist revolutions, many colonial people wanted the right to self-determination in which the US Congress and Americans voiced. This included the native communities to develop and operate programs in which they’ll also have grants to support these programs. These benefit the natives by being employed within these operations. Not only that the Indian Education Assistance Act gave the native communities funds for their children in public schools. This also provided better usage towards the educational need for them. Overall this affected the natives precisely to better their communities which helped them reach their goals.

Interpretation:

This article provided me with information about the bill that helped the native people increasingly to get a voice from them and to provide for their children's education. Such as the Congressman who came to the realization that there are little to no voices from the native people within many programs. So forth they’ve provided many grants and funding towards the native families for employing them into the operations of their community. Also, that funding went towards their children's education needs. Overall this bettered the communities positively and assisted them to strengthen their tribal governments and fully fund their programs.

Since the pandemic has begun all boarding school students have been sent home back in March 2020. During this time many struggled to acclimate to being an online student but in Kenya, there was no in-person class or virtual class which led to classes supposedly restarting in January. But sadly the government is making these children repeat a grade due to the lack of being in school. Zuleika Daffala who is a community activist says she receives calls about the young girls because during this time teen pregnancies have risen due to the fact that parents are out working while their children stay home. NPR’s byline Eyder Peralta says “Most people here live off a dollar or two a day. If they don't work, they don't eat. Daffala says she is getting daily calls from desperate parents. Kids had goals. Now the government is making them repeat a grade, and they are despondent. Parents call her about their girls… Since the county locked down for the coronavirus, counties have reported thousands of teenage pregnancies.”

He’s also spoken to Jackline Bosibori, a seventeen-year-old girl who attended a boarding school but was home due to the coronavirus. She had a lot of free time on her hands so she decided to hang out with her boyfriend and weeks later she found out she was pregnant. Her mother was very upset because they’ve planned Jackline to become a lawyer to help her family out of poverty but with the change in plans, her dream may not come true. They now struggle with the real questions of “Will her mom be able to watch the baby and work to feel the family? Can she pay school fees?” She believes that she would go back to school but studies say 1 in 10 girls ever go back to school. Interpretation:

Teen pregnancy is talked about very little in which no one thought be important. Also, no one would’ve thought that this pandemic would’ve happened as a result the topic of teen pregnancy should’ve been addressed before and throughout this time. But apparently, it has not because now teen pregnancy has risen in numbers because teens are stuck in their homes with no parental supervision. It is not surprising that the numbers have grown during this time because many teens are not educated enough about this topic.