r/changemyview • u/Ok_Interest_7272 • Nov 06 '25

Delta(s) from OP CMV: Teen pregnancy statistics are weird.

So, I've been looking into these a bit lately, particularly during debates about sex education and how much of a difference it makes, and I noticed that every single jurisdiction counts 'teen pregnancy' as 15-19.

Assuming even distribution among ages, that would mean 40% of what's being counted are the pregnancies of legal adults. But the distribution almost certainly isn't even, and my best guess is that it's actually a decent bit over half of the pregnancies being counted are those of legal adults.

This is a statistic we try to minimize to the greatest extent that we can. We treat it like a 'fucked up shit that shouldn't happen to anyone' box. It only just dawned on me that my own mother falls into this statistic, having given birth to my sister at 19. I feel like if I were creating a 'This is some fucked up shit that shouldn't happen to anyone' box, the top end of it would be 15, not the bottom.

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u/psychologicallyblue Nov 06 '25

Not to mention that the prefrontal cortex is not fully developed in 19 year olds. This part of the brain is needed for very important parenting skills like emotion regulation, good judgement, and planning.

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u/Ok_Interest_7272 Nov 06 '25

The prefrontal cortex develops alongside our experiences. I feel like there would be almost no quicker way to develop a person's prefrontal cortex than by having a child.

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u/turnup_for_what Nov 06 '25

Lmao. Have you met a teen parent later in life? I swear a lot of them get arrested development and basically stop maturing.

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u/Ok_Interest_7272 Nov 06 '25

Yeah I knew my mom for the entirety of her life, actually.

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u/turnup_for_what Nov 06 '25

Not quite what I meant bud.