Social Studies SBA sample free essay sample

I am grateful for those who have been there for me through this whole school based assessment. Mrs. Dias Brown and Miss Whitely who has provided classes which helped the students with their school based assessment and my mother who have helped me daily. God bless them, they have been there with me through the whole school based assessment. I will also like to acknowledge my creator and provider the lord God who has given me the strength to complete this research. Introduction The whole purpose of this study is to find out the reasons for the increase in teenage pregnancy in the Seaforth community. I have been living in the Seaforth community for number years. Over the past couple of years there has been a rise in the level of teenage pregnancy among teenage girls in the community. I do hope that that this research will reveal the causes and effects of teenage pregnancy. It is also necessary that this problem be corrected, so I do hope to find solutions to this problem. I also hope to gain a better understanding of the social issue. Statement of the Problem What are the main reasons for teenage pregnancy within my community? Research Questions What are some of the reasons for teenage pregnancy? How does the problem impact the lives of teens? What can be done to correct this problem? Rationale The name of the researcher’s community is Seaforth. The researcher has been living in the community for a number of years. Over the past couple of years the researcher has noticed that there is a rise in the level of teenage pregnancy among teenage girls in the community. The researcher therefore decided to conduct a study in order to understand the reasons and effect of teenage pregnancy in the community. From the study the researcher hopes to gain a better understanding of this social issue and in turn will be able to suggest possible solutions for the issue. Method of Investigation The researcher will use printed questionnaires to collect the data. A questionnaire is a printed sheet with sets of pre-coded and open-ended questions. Justification of Method Using a questionnaire to collect data has a number of advantages. Two of which are: 1. Anonymity is kept. Respondents don’t have to identify themselves on the questionnaire sheet. 2. It takes less time to carry out. A wide range of people can be covered in a small amount of time. Instrument used to collect Data Dear Residents’ This is a survey being carried out in Seaforth, St Thomas to determine the reasons for and effects of teenage pregnancy in the area. Pie chart showing the reasons for teenage pregnancy in the Seaforth community. The pie chart above shows that 50% of our respondents believe that peer pressure is the major cause teenage pregnancy. 30% believes that broken homes cause teenagers to have sex and get pregnant. Another 10% believes that because these teenagers have poor role model that’s why they get pregnant early. The remaining 10% stated that these teenagers get pregnant because of experimenting sex. Effects of Teenage Pregnancy on the lives of Teens Fig. 2. Bar chart showing the effects of teenage pregnancy on the lives of teens. The bar chart above shows that 25% of the respondents stated that poverty is an effect of teenage pregnancy on the lives of teens. Another 25% stated depression as a major effect. 30% stated that a major effect of teenage pregnancy on the lives of teens is that a pregnant teen is less likely to be fully educated. The remaining 20% stated that health problems will affect pregnant teens and their babies. Resolving the Problem Fig. 3. Bar graph showing possible solutions for the issue of teenage pregnancy. In the bar graph above 55% of the respondents believe that if parents are more responsible we would have less teenagers getting pregnant. 30% believes that providing teens with good sex education at school can help to reduce the rise in teenage pregnancy in the community. Another 10% percent believes that having community programs that speaks to the issue of teenage pregnancy can help to reduce the problem. The remaining 5% thinks that condoms should be distributed to those teenagers who are sexually active to reduce the issue of teenage pregnancy in the Seaforth community. Analysis and Interpretation of Data The researcher found out that there are many reasons contributing to teenage pregnancy in the Seaforth community and that it impacts the lives of many teenagers. Peer pressure was stated as a major cause of teenage pregnancy. Many of these individuals are pressured into having sex which leads to them getting pregnant at an early age. Broken homes and poor role models were also stated as causes of teenage pregnancy. It is important for parents to ensure that the family is kept together and that children are being spoken to on a regular basis. The fact that many teenagers look up to musicians and other famous persons as their role models have had an impact on their lives. Not all of these famous people speak positive things. Some of these people speak negative things which the teenagers also follow. Experimenting was stated as a cause of teenage pregnancy. Many teenagers have sex because they want to know how sex feels. This leads to many of them getting pregnant. The researcher also found out some of the effects of teenage pregnancy in the Seaforth Community. 30% of the respondents stated that teenagers who get pregnant are less likely to be fully educated as seen in Fig. 2. Many teenagers who get pregnant are more likely to drop out of high school and from there on; they do not seek to go back to school. The few who seek to go back to school, are not really focus because of their situation. They are therefore not fully educated. Depression and poverty was also stated. When these realize the mistake they have made, they continue to think on the past and they end up feeling depressed and lost. Many of these teenagers didn’t finish school; they were not trained and didn’t receive any qualification. They therefore cannot find a job and they end up living in poverty. Health problems were also stated as an effect. Because most teen moms didn’t receive enough prenatal care, after giving birth the baby will have to spend a lot of time in the hospital which will cause depression on the mom. After a while the mother will need to seek medical attention because of depression. According to theodor. com, pregnant teens need prenatal care in order to have a healthy child. Finally the researcher got some solutions to this issue of teenage pregnancy. Majority of these respondents stated that more responsible parents are needed in the community of Seaforth. Parents play the most important role in their children’s life and it is important that they are responsible. They need to talk to their children more often. 30% o our respondents believe that sex education is vital to reduce teenage pregnancy as seen in Fig. 3. Because the teenagers in the community learn more at school it is important that sex education is provided at school. This will solve the issue in that teenagers will be more aware of the consequences of sex and how teenage pregnancy will affect them. Community programs that speak to the issue of teenage pregnancy was also stated as a way to solve this problem. Because it is in the community that teenage pregnancy is rising, it is important to go about solving the issue from the community level. These programs will help parents and will give tips on how to control their teens. This will help to prevent teenage pregnancy. The final solution that was stated is distributing condoms to those teenagers who are sexually active. The researcher believes that condoms are not 100% reliable and that this will only give teenagers a reason to think they should start having sex. Condoms were built to prevent pregnancy and STIs but are not 100% reliable. Findings The researcher found that majority of the teenagers living in the Seaforth community started having sexual intercourse at the age of sixteen and this result in an increase in teenage pregnancy in the Seaforth community. The researcher’s findings also reveal that the parents in the community are not doing as much to teach their children about the consequences of engaging in sexual activities at an early age. The research also reveals that peer pressure major cause of teenage pregnancy in the community of Seaforth. Recommendation and Implementation of Strategy The researcher recommends that the parents of the Seaforth community have community meetings where they discuss how they will talk to their children about sex. They will also at some of these meetings carry out the teens so they can see how important it is to prevent teenage pregnancy. This recommendation can be implemented by having broadcasts via the media about these meetings and they may put up posters inviting other parents to come out and partake in these meetings. The researcher also recommends that schools start teaching teens more about the consequences of sex at an early age and its effect. This can be implemented by having sex education being placed in the school’s curriculum and having trained sex education teachers.