Question

Diagram the search strategy you would use when looking for information on the topics list below:

Example: You need to read a dramatic play by Shakespeare

Shakespeare + Play – Comedy

OR

Shakespeare + Play + Drama

Use alternate words, phrases, and truncation, as necessary. Use Boolean operators (And, Or, Not), if appropriate. If you do not know the meaning of a word I’ve used – look it up. Do not answer the question, just set up the search.

9.              Do unwed teen mothers complete their high school education?

Answer 1

Unwned teen mothers are less likely to complete high school and only 1.5% have a college degree by age 30. Teen mothers are more likely to end up on welfare (nearly 82 percent of unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare).

The children of unwned mothers have lower birth weights, are more likely to perform poorly in school, and are at greater risk of abuse and neglect.

The sons of teen mothers are 12 percent more likely to end up in prison while teen daughters are 24 percent more likely to become teen mothers themselves.

The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world. Teen pregnancy costs the United States at least $8 billion annually.

Thirty-fifth percent of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20 — about 820,000 a year. Eight in ten of these teen pregnancies are unintended and 79 percent are to unmarried teens.

Teenage mothers face higher health risks than mothers at an older age. Such heath risks include anemia, pregnancy-related high blood pressure, underweight birth, premature delivery, and even death. Majority of these risks result from the fact that most teenage mothers lack prenatal care and not because of immature physical development.

In terms of education, teen parenting statistics show that while it has become socially accepted for teenage mothers to stay in school, unfortunately, an alarming 82 percent of them either choose or feel the need to drop out and only fifty percent of teenage parents who had their first child during the early teenage years will finish high school before they reach thirty.

The result of this situation is that the child or children of these teenage parents generally exhibit lower cognitive development compared to their peers. These children have the tendency to become underachievers academically and are more likely to become school drop outs, too. Teen parenting statistics also point out that these kids start to engage in sex earlier than most of their peers and have a higher tendency to repeat their parent’s past and become teenage parents also.

Economically, teenage parents who are not able to achieve a high school diploma or finish a GED program generally will experience more difficulty in finding a secure and well-paying job. This is evident in teen parenting statistics showing women who had children after the age of 20 earn twice as much as women who were teenage mothers. In addition, ten percent of teenage mothers are not receiving child support from the child’s father and forty percent rely on various government assistance programs such as food stamps in order to get by.

If you are a teen parent, the present and future challenges of raising your child may be too much for you to bear. If family, friends or your supposed partner are not offering help, keep in mind that you are not alone and that there are many organizations willing to help you.