Controversy of the Week Essay #3: Teen pregnancy perpetuates D.C. poverty

                This article off The Washington Post entitled, “Teen pregnancy perpetuates D.C. poverty,” is an issue that we have all come to know very well. It is definitely a controversial issue placed in individuals, whether they be the pregnant teen, fathering teen, parent/parents of the teen, friends, etc. The idea strikes their families, including younger siblings, and their peers as well. This Washington Post article, in particular, has given the statistics of just one state in the nation, Washington, D.C.

                The post proclaims that teen pregnancy is a “one-way ticket to persistent poverty,” and that, “teen pregnancy… is a driving force behind the rolls of the District's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and…the origin of many of the children placed in the city's foster-care system.” The article reinstates that 17,000 families in the District are enrolled in TANF, and that over 50% of the TANF recipients had started their families when they were teens. It is clear that, because this unfortunate issue is so widespread, it is not only aimed to those in Washington, D.C. but also to those in nations around the world, especially in the U.S. Therefore, this article hits those everywhere who encounter the issue or who feel for those involved.

                Why get active on this controversy? Paragraph seven expands concern with more details, exposing that, in 2009, the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency served a total of 3, 841 abused, neglected, or abandoned children. Approximately 76%, 2, 903, of those children were born to teen parents or parents who’ve had previous children as teens. Executive Director of DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Brenda Rhodes Miller, extends the issue range and tells us that children in foster care are much more likely than other youth to be classified with an emotional or behavioral disorder and to be placed in special education programs.

                The article rightfully concludes that the poverty does not only take effect in terms of income, but also in unstable child development that hinders the lives of the boys and girls, and one example would be the structure of their homes and families. Miller’s last statement exclaims, “Spending money on the front end for high-quality programs and services that motivate young people to postpone pregnancy until they've gotten an education and grown up is a much smarter investment than trying to pick up the pieces on the back end.” Moreover, the country is losing this “back end”; the nation’s funding sources in deficit.

               

                In my opinion, teens are in dire need of being informed of the setbacks and consequences that are a result of teen pregnancy. In my home, as young as my younger siblings are, with the exception of me, the 16-year-old, we are constantly reminded that for as long as we are not going in the direction of completing our college education and stabilizing our lives, we are not to conduct or associate with such behavioral levels. As teens, we must really pay close attention to the well-to-do adults in our lives and the advice they give us. I have learned to always listen closely and reason with their statements because they are old enough to know and see the extensions to the young life we are seeing in “OUR” eyes with such a naïve scope. I’d take advantage of what they have to say until it’s my turn to face it all myself.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/07/AR2011010704249_2.html?nav=hcmoduletmv 


The Washington Post
by Colbert I. King
Published: Saturday, January 8, 2011