Meet the Winners of TFC 2007 Essay Contest
Ranking
Name Topic School
4th prize Melissa Wong Teen Chinese Christian School
Pregnancy
"I am a high school senior from Chinese Christian Schools. Throughout my four years in high school, I participated in our schools girl’s varsity volleyball team and has lettered in volleyball. I have also won 1st place in a statewide Chinese Language Teachers Association of California Speech Contest for two years in a row. This fall, I am planning to attend California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. I am majoring in graphic design because a graphic designer holds such an important role of communicating and sending out messages to the rest of the world. I believe that being able to send out messages to the rest of the world is very important because it is through communicating that we can come together to change the world for the better. Lastly, I am planning to save any additional earnings from my job in the future to help those who are in need."
My essay:
I still remember the first time I tried baking chocolate chip cookies from scratch: it was a disaster! Before I started compiling all the ingredients together, I took a quick look at the recipe and thought “No problem. This would be easy!” So I carefully measured out all the ingredients and followed the directions closely. Everything was going just fine… that is until I reached step six which read “put dough in oven and wait 13-15 minutes, or until golden.” Thirteen to fifteen minutes is not a long wait; but it was to me when I could already smell the soft, warm cookies while my stomach was protesting loudly. I took a peek inside the oven and saw the cookies slowly rising. I convinced myself that the cookies must be ready since it started fluffing up already. With Anxiousness tempting me, I snatched the batch of cookies out of the oven, waited for it to cool a minute or two, and took a big bite out of the warm chocolate chip cookie. Yuck! The cookie turned out to be so bad that even my rumbling stomach refused it. The should-be delicious chocolate chip cookie turned out to be a pile of half-baked dough that even my dog would not eat. Sadly, my first baking experience ended with a bunch of raw cookies sitting in my garbage bag. As you can see from my baking experience, haste and anxiousness usually do not turn out to be good. A lot of times, many people jump right in to doing something even when it’s not the right time to do so. In my case, my impatience caused me to waste my time and a good treat. But in other cases, the results may lead to something much worst. One example is teen pregnancy, a serious and significant social problem in the United States. Various causes and factors influence teens to have sex before they are even ready, which leads to unexpected teen pregnancy. Teen pregnancy is a serious problem that needs to be addressed and solved using correct methods in order to prevent more lives from being hurt and destroyed.
But exactly how serious and how big of a problem is teen pregnancy in United States? Despite the fact that teen pregnancy is at its lowest rate in twenty years, United States still remains to have the highest teen pregnancy rates in the fully industrialized world. Teen pregnancy in United States is twice as high as the rates in Canada and as much as eight times as high as the rates in Japan. Of the couple million teenagers in United States, 49.6 percent of them give birth before they are eighteen. This problem does not only affect one person, but it also drags along many other people, like close relatives, friends, and the baby. When teens have babies, waves of responsibilities that they are not ready to handle sweep into their lives. They not only create an economic and time burden on their family, but it also affects the teens’ entire life and future. But what is driving American teens to have sex at such an early age?
There are numerous causes that contribute to teens having early sex which may then lead to teen pregnancy, but the bottom line for the majority of these reasons is because teens think they are ready to have sex before they actually are. The media is a big force that sways teens to think they are ready to have sex without informing them of the consequences that follow. The media is taking a larger and larger role in teens’ lives now. All the latest buzz is about the new TV show, the latest hit song, or the bestseller movie. Teens may not realize it, but every time they watch TV or listen to a song, they are very likely to see or hear sexual contents. Even in commercials, businesses use sexual images to get people’s attention. For example, if they try to sell nylon socks, they would display an image of a man feeling a woman’s leg while she wears the socks. It is images like these that get stuck in teens’ heads and the more they are exposed to them, the more they are likely to have sex. A new study published in Pediatrics shows that teens who see and hear a lot about sex in the media are 2.2 times more likely to have early sexual intercourse than those who are rarely exposed to sexual content. In this world of technologies and media, there is no way that teens can avoid exposure to sexual contents. Although the media has a lot to blame for pressuring teens into having sex and unwanted pregnancies, it is not the only cause that is giving teens the drive.
Peer pressure from friends, classmates, or boyfriend/girlfriend plays another major role in influencing teens to have sex. Throughout people’s lifetime, peers influence a lot of what they do; but during adolescence, this pressure greatly heightens. Peer pressure is so strong during teen years because it is the time when teens determine who they are and where they belong. Teens do not want to appear different with the people around them so they mimic the way their friends dress, talk, and act. In order to fit in, teens do things, like having sex, even though they are not ready for it. In a recent national SexSmarts survey, 58 percent of 15- to 17-year-olds who had sex said they did so because they just “wanted to get it over with.” Eighty-four percent agreed to sex because “their partner wanted to.” Teens have sex so they can please their partners. But what does it mean by “wanting to get it over with?” Adolescence is a time where a person is no longer a child but not yet a full grown adult. Seventeen-year-old Ileana Cruz “perceive sex to be a beautiful thing that will make teens feel more like an adult.” Teens may think that by having sex, they can finally get over the childish life and fit into popular groups that seem so “mature.” With mature actions come mature responsibilities. Teens think they are ready to have sex, but they crumble down when they have to handle the responsibilities that follow. Teens may feel like they fit in after having sex, but if they become pregnant, they will just become even more confused and burdened.
Above all the strong influences that teens have on sex, a person’s family plays one of the biggest roles in shaping teens’ perception about sex. Many people underestimate the great affect that family structure, relationship, and practice can have on a person’s view on sex. It is often because of parents’ lack of understanding of their influence that makes teens think that it doesn’t really matter whether they have early sex or not. Many studies consistently show that living with a single parent increases the likelihood that a teenager will engage in sexual intercourse at an earlier age and are less likely to use contraception. This may be the case because single or divorced parents may have more permissive sexual attitudes, provide less parental supervision, or show more open sexual expression through their own dating activity. Younger siblings also look up to their older siblings as role models. Having an older sibling who is engaged in sexual activity increases the likelihood that the younger sibling will also take part in sexual activity. They simply reason that since their siblings are doing it, then it must be okay for them to do it as well. Lastly, the way children are raised and the neighborhood they grew up in shape their decisions on having early sex. A teenager who has traumatic childhood experiences or grew up in a neighborhood with high crime rates and poverty are much less likely to use contraception during sexual intercourse and end up pregnant. Teens growing up in this environment may feel more hopeless about their future and do not really care what consequences happen afterwards. A person’s family background, childhood experiences, and the environment she lives in can make or break the way she thinks about early sex, unwanted pregnancy, and the consequences in the future.
Everyone can tell that teen pregnancy is a problem, but people’s focus on the problem and their way of solving it differs. The government’s methods in tackling the problem are effective in bringing down teen pregnancy rates, but they do not eradicate the problem at its roots. The government uses methods like promoting birth control pills, condoms, other contraception devices, and abortion to lower teen birth rates. In 2005, President Bush signed Title X for a 288.3 million dollars funding increase for abortion. Although abortion can significantly decrease unwanted birth rates, it can only solve the problem temporarily. When abortion is supported, teens get the gist that it is okay to have sex and become pregnant because abortion will be the quick and easy way out of the problem. With this thinking, more teens will unreservedly have sex knowing that they can just have abortion if they become pregnant. The government also uses the media to promote the use of birth control pills and condoms to prevent teen pregnancy. Condoms and birth control pills frequently show up in advertisements and magazine. Condom distribution companies are even coming up with different packaging designs to promote the use of them. Even though the government’s method in promoting birth control pills and condoms is effective in lowering teen pregnancy rates and is pretty much harmless, I do not agree with the direction that the government is going in handling and solving the problem. The promotion of abortion and birth control measures seems to be sending teens a message saying “it is okay to have sex as long as you do not become pregnant. Or if you become pregnant, just make sure you do not give birth to it so that it will not affect the society.” Just like pulling out weeds, it is useless in trying to eliminate the problem by pulling out the leaves; we can only exterminate teen pregnancy if we pull it out by the root.
I believe that the best way in extracting this problem out from the root is by promoting abstinence. Abstinence is the only method that can guarantee to stand its ground against teen pregnancy. Experts as well as teachers should educate kids in middle school about the benefits of abstinence while informing them about the troubling aftermaths of having early sex. Kids do listen. Kids in middle school are old enough to know what is going on but young enough to still readily take in the words of adults. In fact, teens’ decision point in having sex is usually around high school. So if they are educated earlier about the consequences of having teen sexual activity, they are less likely to fall into the trap. Ten evaluations showing that abstinence education is effective in reducing teen sexual activity. But in 2002, the government only used 144.1 million dollars to fund abstinence education programs while they spent 653 million dollars in promoting contraceptive programs. Why should they spend most of their money on programs that will only provide a temporary solution while they can focus on abstinence programs that are actually effective in reducing teen pregnancy in the long run?
But even with all the abstinence education in schools and programs, parents’ communication and care for their children are the most influential when it comes to teens’ decision on sex. Just as a troubled family is of the biggest cause for teen pregnancy, a healthy family is also a great force in pulling teens towards abstinence. Many parents underestimate their great influence over their kid’s decisions and thus give up the chance to educate and talk to them about the consequences of having sex. Therefore, I believe that parents should clearly communicate their values and expectations to their children, express their love and concern for them early on, and lastly have a balanced involvement in their children’s lives. Parents may find that starting such conversations to be awkward. So why not use the media to help them instead of to hurt them? Parents can use TV shows to state how they feel about the messages that are sent out. Research shows that parents who are close to their children, who are involved in their children’s lives, and show care to their kids can greatly reduce the risk of early sex and teen pregnancy. Teens even admit that parents influence their decisions on sex more strongly than do friends. The bottom line is that family does matter.
Pregnancy should be one of life’s greatest joys. But because teens are not waiting until the opportune time to have sex, pregnancy among teenagers has turned into a big social problem in our country. With numerous causes pressing teens to have sex like peer pressure, unfortunate family background, and the media, it is becoming more and more difficult for teens to suppress the pressure all around them. Although the government is trying to help reduce teen birth rates, they are handling this situation the wrong way. Instead of using good moral values and conscience to abolish the problem at its roots, the government is taking the short cut and seems to be saying “whatever you do, just don’t end up with a baby.” I think the correct way in solving the problem is by thoroughly informing teens of the consequences of having sex through schools, programs, and parents. Just like how my batch of cookies could have been a delicious treat if I waited long enough, pregnancy can also be a wonderful thing if we do not rush to it before we are ready. Let’s not waste the time where we can fully enjoy the responsibilities of having a child. Abstinence can save a life and a future.
