About 16 million women between the ages of 15 and 19 years old give birth each year. Ninety-five percent of these births happen in low and middle income countries. The average teenage birth rate in middle income countries is more than twice as high in high-income countries, with the rate in low-income countries being five times as high. Georgia had the highest teen birth rate in the nation. More than two decades later, the rate of teenage pregnancy is about half what it was nationwide, in Georgia, Clarke and neighboring countries. It’s not just a health issue, it is a development issue. In poverty, gender inequality, violence, forced marriage, struggle in relationships between girls and their male partners, lack of education, and the failure of systems. These issues are being brought to attention by focusing on teenage pregnancy. To stop the cycle of teenage pregnancy it requires commitment from nations, communities and individuals to invest, government enact, enforce, and promote national laws, and providing age- appropriate sex education. The government should change the national laws to raise the age of marriage to prevent consequences. Teenagers should be provided sex education to develop the knowledge and skills they need in order to protect their health throughout their years. Even though laws and education is informed, it is still not enough. The government tried to reduce the amount of teen pregnancies by administering sex education classes at school. Claire D. Brindis wrote an article about the policy change in sexual activity and pregnancy on teens. She explains the amount of money the government has spent on trying to promote sex education. Brindis claims “approximately $620 million have been spent nationally since 1998, representing approximately $168 million in FY 2005. These programs require teaching that abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage is the expected standard for all school age children”. Students seemed to understand the programs, but chose not to follow what they understood. Going a different path was most likely due to the amount of social pressure teenagers face to follow their “friends”. Teenagers with friend’s who are involved in sexual activity, chances are the teenager is going to want to be like the friend and try it too. The lessons shared during class are usually ignored because teenagers feel that they won’t be a victim in the percentage increase. They continue to live careless, not thinking about the consequences they may receive for their actions. The health of the community directly affects the health of an individual. When a community is ignored, neglected or taken advantage of, then the people who live there will be similarly ignored, neglected and taken advantage of.