Posts Tagged ‘Domestic Violence’

Saturday, September 6th, 2008
Teenage Pregnancy
Andrew asked:


A documentary named “Queen Leah” within “Australian Story” shown by the ABC television network describes the changes that happened within an Aboriginal woman, Leah Purcell, as a consequence of her aspiration of her dream of becoming a performer, her establishment of her own personality and her learning more about the world surrounding her. Beginning with the main character in a room preparing to go on the scene, the responder can see from the beginning that Leah has come a long way since her beginnings, as she colors her face and organizes her clothing for the evening, she does it not to hide herself behind the mask and costume, but to show her changed self.

Whilst this is going on, Leah Purcell introduces a self-narration of her childhood in regional Queensland. She tells about the absence of optimism in the town and the way children of Aboriginal descent were looked upon, people told her that she was going nowhere. Leah Purcell discloses the way in which her past has affected her persona, the absence of her white father, domestic violence, her mother’s and her own fight against alcoholism with hers starting at just nine years old and her unforeseen teenage pregnancy at the age of seventeen and the shake of her mother’s death only one month after the birth. Because of her traumatic biography she has received many important life lessons which have formed the well grounded, determined woman she has become. The change in her persona is visually accessible to people. An emotive tone is noticeable throughout the documentary, intensified by visualization of Leah’s unruly emotions, and her narrating in the background, inspires the people to feel with her and accept the changes that have happened in her life. The main character had suffered a lot and had experienced many problems, but consequently they only made her strong, purposeful and inspiring.



Danny

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
Teenage Pregnancy
Jonathon Hardcastle asked:


Being a teenager is a troubling time. While adjusting to all the changes going on both in your biology and your responsibilities, making the right decisions can be hard when it comes to topics such as relationships. In this article, we’ll offer some statistics regarding teenage relationships so that you can better understand exactly what’s in store for the average teenager who is dating.

While domestic violence is a terrible aspect of adult relationships, few adults realize that this problem also occurs in their sons and daughters. A study conducted by “Children Now” in 1995 saw that a full 89 percent of teens have been in dating relationships and a whopping 40 percent of all teenagers know someone their age that was beaten or abused by a boyfriend in a relationship. This is a serious problem that every parent needs to watch out for to ensure the health and safety of their children. Another study, conducted by Silverman, Raj, Mucci and Hathaway in 2001 showed that young women who were in relationships that involved violence were more likely to abuse substances, develop eating disorders, conduct risky sexual behaviors, get pregnant, and even commit suicide. As you can see, domestic violence in teenagers is very worrisome for a host of reasons.

In the good news department, the number of teen pregnancies occurring in the United States has been declining since the early nineties. These decreases are found across the board, with age, marital status, and ethnicity not being a significant factor in the decrease, representing a uniform drop. Studies show that this drop in teen pregnancy can be due to the greater use of contraceptives by teens. Lowered rates of sexual activity amongst adolescents also are a factor in the declining rate. However, the teen pregnancy rate in the United States is still one of the highest rates in any industrialized nation. The use of contraceptives needs to be encouraged by all parties, regardless of religion or creed. If a teenager has sex unprotected, they run a risk of getting pregnant that is approximately 90%.

One aspect of teenage pregnancy that is frightening is the number of adult males that are having sexual relationships with teenage females. In cases where a girl aged 15 to 17 gets pregnant, over 50% of the time, an adult male is the father. A study conducted in California showed that seven out of ten teenage births were caused by men aged twenty or above.



Sergio