PSYC 2020 Student Number: 782793
Submission date: 05/05/2015
Assignment Topic: In South Africa, teenage pregnancy is on rise as a result of how these teenagers make sense of their sexuality.
In South African adolescent marks the transition from childhood to adulthood, which in some instances is filled with a period of opportunities, challenges, changes, skills, pressures and physical, cognitive and psychosocial development. Teenagers are faced with an immense amount of peer pressure, physiological and emotional changes, sexual experimentation that increases the risk of pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease. While many teenagers may engage in pre-marital sex some never become pregnant. Teenage pregnancy has become all too common in this day and age. Some teenagers think it will not happen to them and do not use necessary precautions to protect themselves against pregnancy. There are several causes for teen pregnancy and the effects can be life changing.

Research done has indicated that there is not one single cause to teenage pregnancy, but there are whole host of causes to this pandemic. Factors that can contribute to the number of teenagers who fall pregnant are for example, gender power imbalances (associated with significantly older partners in particular), early sexual debut, barriers to contraceptive use (seldom used at sexual initiation), and misinformation on sexual health matters. Pregnancy at a very young age may result in pregnancy complications that can lead to the death of the young mother and or her baby. Other associated consequences include increased risk of infant morbidity, as well as the possibility of emotional and financial strain for the mother. One may have a poor home life and look for affection from a peer. The simple desire to feel loved by another person may be a cause for an unexpected pregnancy; a teenager may have a low