by Lori Cooper

Created on: October 19, 2009

This is such a sensitive topic to discuss, as so many outcomes come from having sex at a young age. In this day and age, many young girls are having children in which they cannot take care of. Yes, the federal government should set a national age for sexual consent amongst teens.

This is a contributing problem to many children growing up in broken homes, with irresponsible parents and even to live with abuse. While a teenager is growing up, they go through many different life changing events that take all of their energy in order to overcome these obstacles. A teenager is still a child, no matter what. They cannot take care of themselves fully, or be able to tell what is right from wrong, as peer pressure is very influential in their lives.

Having sex is a major responsibility. Although it is apart of life, many types of situations can come from it. There is always the risk of catching a sexually transmitted disease. Yes, some have vaccinations but others can be deadly. Also, there is the chance of passing it on to another person, which would then hurt them. Teenagers have a hard time understanding this concept as most tend to only think of themselves.

Pregnancy is the major problem or situation that can happen. There are so many reasons why a teenager should not have a child. Today, you can hear of children as young as thirteen having a child. This is really, truly sad as everyone knows that these children will not be able to take care of an infant and the parents will be with the burden of taking care of their child's child. Child abuse is also another common problem with teenagers being parents. As they are still immature and irresponsible, these teenagers may not know how to respond to a baby crying through all hours of the night. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDs) is a common infant death that happens when a person shakes a baby too hard, and causes brain damage and even death. The consequences can be extremely devastating.

Again, yes the federal government should establish a consent of age amongst teenagers to have sex. Not only to protect these teens from doing something they may not be able to endure, but for the infants that may be born to these lifestyles on insecurity and instability. Just take a minute to think about it. If you were a parent of a thirteen year old having a baby? What would you do and then what would your intake be on the question?

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