Switched-On :: Blog

Recently, as I’ve met more people at college, I’ve noticed the presence of the issue of teenage pregnancy more. Personally I’ve met quite a few teenagers who are currently pregnant or have already had a child and returned to school. I see teenage pregnancy as the result of an increasing open-mindedness about sexual relationships coupled with inadequate sexual education, that or just thoughtlessness in general. Of course, I’m not saying that there aren’t people out there who intended to have a child for their loved one as a teenager but that seems to be a rare phenomenon in this era where couples usually don’t have their first child until they are financially stable — most teenage pregnancies seem to be accidental. Teenagers are exposed to sex a lot earlier and easier than before and the sexual education doesn’t seem to be keeping up, so it ends up that they either aren’t using condoms or birth-control at all, or they’re not using it properly, which leads to these accidents. Personally, I think schools and parents should be more open-minded to sexual education so that they can properly educate their children so that if they’re being exposed to shows with sexual innuendo or content, it’d be less likely for them to commit irreversible mistakes.

- Vivian