Approximately one million teens become pregnant and give birth each year in the United States. Eighty percent of these births are to unmarried teenagers (ProQuest). There are serious consequences to teen pregnancy for both the baby and the mother. The opportunity for a bright future diminishes with such high responsibility; a child. Many teenagers who become pregnant do not finish high school and are less likely to consider going to college. Another effect of teenage pregnancy is that both mother and baby become predisposed to health problems. Newborns are more likely to suffer from low birth weight and other health problems. Most teenagers do not have health insurance, so it becomes more difficult to provide adequate health care for themselves and their children. Not only are children of teenage parents more likely to be unhealthy physically, but sometimes emotionally too. An adolescent cannot provide the nurturing environment that a child needs to develop. Although teen pregnancy rates declined throughout the 1990s, a 3 percent increase in births to teen mothers between 2005 and 2006 raised alarm that sex education programs and campaigns for reduce teenage motherhood were failing (ProQuest). Various contraceptive methods and the right but difficult choice of abstinence are among the possible solutions. Preventing teen pregnancy is an issue of utmost importance in the United States and society as a whole needs to convince teenagers in a more innovative and extreme way and they need to move forward now. .Due to teenage pregnancies, mothers and fathers have to work very hard to have an optimistic future. School is no longer the first priority in the lives of adolescents after giving birth. Only 51% of teen mothers earn a high school diploma before age 22, compare… middle of paper… more,” Fact Sheet No. 2010-01, Child Trends, January 2010, www.childtrends .org .40. “Socioeconomic and Family Characteristics of Teen Pregnancy,” National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, September 2009, www.TheNationalCampaign.org.26. “Playing Catch-Up: How Children Born to Teen Mothers Do,” The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy/Child Trends, January 2005. Quoted in Pauline Anderson, “Anguish Combined with Poverty Increases Risk of Teen Pregnancy ", Medscape Medical News online, July 31, 2009, www.medscape.com.ProQuest Staff. "Topic Overview: Birth Control." ProQuest LLC. 2013: n.pag. SIRS Problem Researcher. Network. November 25, 2013 .ProQuest Staff. “Teen Pregnancy Timeline.” Timing of major issues. 2013: np Researcher on SIRS issues. Network. November 25 2013.