Hannah Farrell English5/15/14 SandersonGetting pregnant at a young age is a frequent but avoidable mistake that will affect you for the rest of your life. Since the 1990s, the number of teen pregnancies has decreased, but it remains an avoidable situation that teens can prevent. This article will explore the recent statistics and consequences of teenage pregnancy and ways to prevent the situation. Statistics show that teen pregnancy has decreased compared to years past, but it still continues to be a problem among teenagers. For example, from 1990 to 2010 the teen birth rate decreased from 61.8 to 29.4 per thousand teen girls (Teen Pregnancy & Childbearing 1). Even with a decline over the past two decades, national statistics show that 305,388 teen births still occurred in 2012. On average there were twenty-nine births per thousand girls and only fifty-four percent were planned. More pregnancies occur among minority girls. For example, forty-six out of a thousand Hispanic girls were pregnant in 2012, while African American girls were nearly forty-four out of a thousand. Compared to Caucasians, they had more than half the number of teen births in 2012. With a drastically high number of teen births in the year 2012 alone, $9.4 billion was spent on teen pregnancies. New York State alone spent $337 million on 12,592 teen births. The number of teen pregnancies versus teen births also has a drastic difference. For example, the teen pregnancy rate was 41,590 in 2012, compared to 12,592 births. This means that thirty percent of girls have terminated their pregnancies. With...half of the paper......action. Sex education and access to contraceptives will prevent teenagers from making the wrong decision. Health workers should also raise awareness among adolescents about risky sexual behaviors such as HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, and dating violence (Pregnancy and Teenage Pregnancy 1). To prevent the number of teenage pregnancies from increasing, adolescents need support from their peers, parents and the media. Adolescents need to be aware of negative outcomes and desire a healthy future consisting of education, work, and healthy relationships. Teenage pregnancy is still an ongoing problem that will only get worse if teens are not adequately informed of the consequences it will have on their lives. Since statistics show how serious the problem is, teenagers need to know how to prevent it. It's an avoidable mistake that will affect them for the rest of their lives.