THE CAUSES AND EFFECT OF TEENAGE

PREGNANCY AMONG TEENAGERS: A CASE STUDY

OF SAN MARIANO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

JESSIE ANN B. CABANGAN – MAED

GERALDINE
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Here in the Philippines, we believe in the saying of our national hero Dr.

Jose P. Rizal that “Youth is the hope of our Mother land”. In their hand lies the future generation

to follow.

But as we see from the situation nowadays, what were expecting from the youth is the contrary if

the saying. Teenagers are prone to pregnancy. Almost every year there is a rapid increase on the

number of pregnant youths. One of the major causes of this problem is that most of the youths

nowadays grew up in broken homes. Parents either the father or mother of the youths chose to

leave their children behind because of the fact that they cannot handle anymore their obligation

as parents.

In relation to this problem, our government is now working on the

Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill) as one of the most effective solution not only to teenage

pregnancy but also to the increasing population of our country.

Statement of the Problem

This study answers the following questions:

1. At what age did you become sexually active?

2. What is your current situation with pregnancy?

3. Was the pregnancy planned?

4. Did you ever think of aborting the baby?

5. How would you rate the following from its substantiality: condoms, pills, morning-after pill,

other conceptive methods, STIS and STDS?

6. Do you know the whereabouts of your local family planning clinic? Did you know this before

you got pregnant?

7. Do you know of anywhere in your local area where free condoms are available to younger

couples?

8. As a teen aged mother, how do you plan to support your child’s financial needs?

9. Are you or your partner currently working? If yes, where do you see yourself in terms of

occupation?

10. Can you manage financially, physically, emotionally and mentally your current situation?

11. Do you still continue to pursue your education?

12. Do the people around you respect your current situation at such young age?

Significance of the Study

This study is significance for the following reasons:

a. Enhancement of people’s knowledge on number of students indulged in Teenage Pregnancy in

San Mariano National High School.

b. Increase the awareness and knowledge on the increasing number of teenage pregnancy cases.

c. To be able for them to absorb and reflect the effects and problems attached in teenage

pregnancy.

d. To help prevent from indulging from this early pregnancy.

Teenagers – they are the ones involved in this case. They could be helped through the

informative content of this study. They could realize the negative effects of teenage pregnancy

and how it could change their whole life.

Society - it could lessen the percentage of single parenthood among the community. It could

orient family members on how teenage pregnancy can affect the family most especially the

teens.

Sources of Contraceptive materials – they may expect an increase in demand due to the

awareness of the teenagers on getting pregnant at an early age.

Local Government – they could be able to implement and facilitate projects concerning the rate

of teenage pregnancy issue. They could be able to understand the deeper cause of this inflating

rate of early pregnancy.

Community Members – they could build a strong alliance against teenage pregnancy and they

could be a more productive part of the community in terms of cooperating in the alliance.

Parents – they could expect a better future and a progressive and a more valuable and worthy

support to their sons and daughter.

Non-Government Organism – they could more stabilize their goals on this sector and comply

and efficient purpose on execution of ideas from which this study focuses. They could be more

sufficient in terms of project planning and data analysis of social factors often ager pregnancy.

Others – they would get a broader knowlage on how the teenage regnancy work in the society.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study

This investigation is conducted to determine the rate of teenage students that is engaged in

teenage pregnancy. This way, we could determine the stature and profile of the teenage indulged

in teenage pregnancy. The aspects looked into were the quantitative information of number of

teen aged students indulged in teenage pregnancy and the data behind this.

This investigation focuses on number of teen age students indulged in teenage pregnancy in

Tacloban City portrayed by teenagers as respondents during January to February 2011.

Definitions of Terms

Teenage pregnancy – refers to any pregnancy on women that took place between the ages 13 –

19 years old.

Teen aged Students – refers to students that ages a number that end in “teen” as the last

syllable such as13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19.

Rate – refers to a quantity from a recent quantity

STIS – refers to Sexually Transmitted Infections

 STDS – refers to Transmitted Diseases 6 Profile of teenager students engaged in teenage

pregnancy Self-Structured Questionnaires Gathering Data from teen aged students Identified

Numbers of teen aged students indulged in teenage pregnancy

Conceptual Framework

Input process output

Profile of teenager Self-Structured Identified Numbers

students engaged in Questionnaire of teen aged
teenage pregnancy Gathering Data from students indulged in
teen aged students teenage pregnancy
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The purpose of this section of the study is to provide a review of relevant literature that focuses

on questions related to teenage pregnancy. The Introduction to this study offered an overview of

the extent of the problem, its effects and outcomes, and a conceptual framework in which it was

asserted that peer pressure to begin sexual activity coupled with low self-esteem may very well

be instrumental in placing some young girls at risk for pregnancy during adolescence. Statistical

methods The two outcomes were pregnancy rate, a proxy for conception rate, and pregnancy

outcome. Both outcomes were measured at the level of small area and were analyzed for each of

three age groups, 13-15, 16-17, and 18-19 years, based on the maternal age at conception.

Pregnancy rates in 16-17 and 18-19 year olds were expressed as the ratio of observed to expected

pregnancies, in order to standardize for marital status. The expected number of pregnancies was

derived by applying national rates in married and unmarried teenagers to local married and

unmarried populations, then adding the results to obtain a total. The expected number of

pregnancies in 13-15 year olds in each area was derived from the total national rate. Pregnancy

outcome was expressed as the proportion of conceptions resulting in a maternity; outcomes

classed as miscarriage and other were excluded. This proportion was calculated separately for

married and unmarried teenagers in each age group. I considered marital status to be an

important indicator of the cultural background of young women, although in some cases

conception would have preceded marriage.

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS

Cause or Effect? The burdens of early childbearing on disadvantaged teens are undeniable.

Trying to untangle the factors which contribute to teenage pregnancy from its effects, however,

leads to a "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" dilemma. Educational failure, poverty,

unemployment and low self-esteem are understood to be negative outcomes of early

childbearing. These circumstances also contribute to the likelihood of teen pregnancy. For

example, recent studies suggest that most adolescent mothers have already dropped out of school

before they become pregnant. On the other hand, adolescents still enrolled in school when they

give birth are as likely to graduate as their peers. It is not clear how well the adolescents with the
most problems would have fared in the future even without early parenthood. Following are

some of the contributing factors or causes of teenage pregnancy: 1) Lack of Parental Guidance:

Most people evade their children from talking about sex. In some cases, they provide false

information regarding sex and discourage their children to participate in any informative

discussion about sex. In some cases, teenage mothers are not well educated about sex before

getting pregnant and thus this leads to lack of communication between the parents and the

children. 2) Adolescent Sexual Behavior: Among the adolescents, peer pressure is a major factor

that encourages the teenage boys and girls to indulge in sexual activities. Early dating, as early as

12 years of age, is another factor that contributes to teen pregnancy. 3) Inadequate Knowledge

about Safe Sex: Most adolescents are unaware of safe sex. They probably have no access to the

traditional methods of preventing pregnancy. And the main reason behind is that they are either

too embarrassed or fear to seek information about it. 4) Exploitation by Older Men: This is

another major factor that contributes to pregnancy among the teenagers. Those girls who date

older men are more likely to become pregnant before they attain womanhood. Rape, sexual

exploitations etc. also takes place that leads to unwanted pregnancy among teenage girls. 5)

Socio Economic Factors: Teenage girls who belong to the poor families are more likely to

become pregnant. Researchers have found that even in the developed countries teenage

pregnancy occurs most commonly among the deprived sections.

 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The study being conducted is a descriptive research. It includes the collection of data needed to

answer the question concerning the current status of the study.

Research Respondents

The respondents of this research study are the female teen age students that are enaged in teenage

pregnancy at San Mariano National High School. This study is conducted at San Mariano

National High School where the study focuses to extract the statistical data of teenage

pregnancy. This study is conducted in May – June 2018.

Research Instruments

The researchers used a self-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire is all about the

background of the information about the pregnancy of the teenager. It is structured as to guide

the respondent in reflecting and understanding her situation.

Validation of Research Instrument

The research instrument was submitted to our Research Professor to correct and finalize the

questionnaire. Hence, there was no dry run conducted due to lack of time.

Method of Scoring and Interpretation

In analyzing the data gathered though the questionnaire, the researcher utilized the following:

On the age of the teen aged female student that started to become sexually active

Mean Range Interpretation

10 yrs. old and below too minor

11-15 years old early adolescent

16-19 years old late adolescent

Statistical Treatment

The various data gathered were subjected to statistical treatment to present the profile and the

extent of influence of the identified factors, problems encountered and possible solutions. The

following formula will be used

Percentage: f/n x 100

Where: F = frequency

N = Number of respondents