Adolescent pregnancy has a negative social and economic effects on girls, their families and communities. Unmarried pregnant adolescents may face stigma or rejection by parents and peers as well as threats of violence. Girls who become pregnant before 18 are also more likely to experience violence within a marriage or partnership.
Having to balance motherhood and education simultaneously appears to be an overwhelming experience for teenage mothers. As a result, irregular school attendance and poor school performance during and after pregnancy often lead to the girls dropping out of school.
While many girls who become mothers before completing schooling consider academic qualifications to be very important, they may not be able to succeed academically if the support they need to complete their studies is insufficient.
Through our experience, we have witnessed that teen pregnancies between developed and underdeveloped schools are different.
Parents whose teens are in developed schools invest their interests in their children’s education. They also educate their children on what to expect when growing up and responsibilities. These teenagers have more resources from home and school to know more about teen pregnancy.
Their schools have experts in the field of psychology and social worker. A school social worker is an important asset to learners. By working to ensure that all students are equipped and able to handle the demands of education, school social workers can help children and adolescents overcome several obstacles that could impede both social and academic success.
Most educators are equipped to teach children about sexual reproduction. Children from these schools have access to the internet and libraries where they can also gather more information.
In these schools, the level of educational inequality is high comparing to the developed schools. The resources to create awareness and educate teenagers are scarce. These teenagers have little access to more information about teenage pregnancies and contraceptive measures that are available. A lack of parental interest in children’s education, insufficient funding from the state, underqualified teachers, and multi-grade teaching are some of the barriers to effective education.
National health systems should be strengthened, implement comprehensive education on sexuality and relationships in and out of schools, and provide affordable, safe contraception to tackle the root causes of adolescent pregnancy. Schools that are underdeveloped has inadequate access to services tailored to young girls. We also demand governments to do more to support pregnant girls and young mothers to continue and complete their education.
Adolescent pregnancies are a global problem but occur most often in poorer and marginalised communities. Many girls face pressure to marry early and become mothers while they are still young. Teenage pregnancy increases when girls are unaware of the right decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and well-being and these can only be achieved by more sexual and reproductive education. Young girls must know more about their bodies and futures and have access to appropriate healthcare services and education.
There are lots of factors that lead to teen pregnancy, but lack of information is a major challenge. The government must address education inequalities within the schools and invest more resources for support in underdeveloped schools such as increased special education specialists, educators and parents training.
Teenagers are often afraid to even bring up the topic of sex with their parents. If teenagers had someone with whom they could talk about their problems, they would probably feel more comfortable talking about sex, hence the need for parents being educated about these issues. If parents would communicate with their children about such topics as sex and birth control, it would really help lessen the rate of teen pregnancy.
- Dr Omar is the clinical director at the Teddy Bear Foundation
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.