Teenage Pregnancy Education Workshop
It is everybody’s responsibility to provide teenage pregnancy education at an early age to help young people to make responsible choices about their sexual behaviour. This includes children, parents, teachers, health professionals, advertisers, businesses, policymakers and religious groups.
Schools, together with external education providers such as 2020 Dreams, can play a pivotal role in minimising the number of young girls who fall pregnant before they graduate.
Becoming pregnant while still at school or college is rarely a positive event for a teenager: the stark truth is that most pregnant teenagers end up having an abortion (see the ‘Key Stats’ below) and those who do give birth are often left feeling trapped, isolated and unhappy.
Many teachers will probably know of cases where students with high career potential have fallen out of the education system due to pregnancy.
By providing high quality, accurate and engaging teenage pregnancy education, 2020 Dreams can support a school’s PSHE and Sex and Relationships programmes, helping to reduce the incidence of unintended teen pregnancy and to open the eyes of girls and boys alike to the huge impact that having a baby will have in their lives.
Key Stats*
- The UK pregnancy rate in 2018 stood at 24.5 births per 1,000 15 to 17 year-olds.
- In the same year, there was an estimated 4,648 conceptions to children aged under 16.
- In 2013, 61.6% of under 16 pregnancies, and 50.7% of under 18 pregnancies led to legal abortion. The average for all ages was 21.2%.
*ONS: London, 2019.
Empowering Teenagers to Make Responsible Choices
The brains of teenagers are still developing, and the capacity to anticipate the consequences of their actions is often woefully lacking, especially when they are absorbed in the excitement and romance of young love.
2020 Dreams Teenage Pregnancy workshops are designed to relate to teenagers on their level, while encouraging them, through effective educational tools, to think deeply about all of the implications of becoming pregnant, not just the positive outcomes they might be focusing on.
2020 Dreams teenage pregnancy education uses a combination of interactive role-play scenarios and honest, open debate to drive home the reality of pregnancy and parenthood, dispelling many of the rose-tinted visions young girls and boys may hold.
Giving Teens the Opportunity to Talk
A lot of teenage pregnancy education comes in the form of lectures and handouts, with teens being criticised for being irresponsible and made to feel judged. This is not an effective approach if you want teenagers to listen to and respect what you have to say.
In a 2020 Dreams workshop, much of the talking is done by the teenagers themselves through managed open forum discussions. The reasons why teenage girls become pregnant vary. Some may have a strong maternal instinct and lack confidence in their ability to succeed at school.
In this case, teenage pregnancy education might focus on the value of putting off pregnancy until after school and focusing on improving self-esteem. Other teenagers may get pregnant through having unsafe sex or misunderstanding contraception.
By providing children with timely and accurate information, and making sure they get a chance to openly talk through their thoughts and feelings, both girls and boys will be more likely to temper their instincts and make wise, responsible decisions.
2020 Dreams Teenage Pregnancy workshops are positive and fun; we believe that it is a natural and healthy drive to want to explore sexuality and to nurture a living being. Our teenage pregnancy education focuses on helping young people to place as much value on their education and to be confident and assertive enough to resist peer pressure and delay their sexual activity or, at the very least, ensure that protection is used
