Background Study Of Teenage Pregnancy

Background Study Of Teenage Pregnacy In developed and developing countries, teenage pregnancy continued to receive increased attention because of the early age at which adolescents engage in sexual activity. Teenage pregnancy usually out of wedlock has been observed as a social problem and is becoming very rampant in our societies. Like a pandemic, it has become part and parcel of some teenagers in every given society. It has brought disappointment and disgrace to parents and families and the young person involved suffers a lot of psychosocial trauma. To a large extent, it is responsible for the high mortality rate of teenage girls, unwanted pregnancy and unplanned parenthood and the disruption of education careers of teenager in our society. This makes some parents to marry off their daughters to schools, all to avoid the risk of the girls getting pregnant before marriage. Chronologically, a teenager is one that falls within the age bracket of 13 and 19 years. It is a period in life which is described by some as the age of experimentation. Within this age range, teenagers involve themselves in various experiences of life, ranging from pre-marital served activities to other deviant activities, such as taking of hard drugs, alcohol and smoking, if not properly guided in life. This period as a matter of fact, lays a vital foundation for every prospective youth and adult. This implies that, family socialization is of basic importance in the life of a teenager. The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines teenage hood as the process through which an individual goes through the transition from the stage of childhood to that of adulthood. Sanderatitz and Paxman (1985) sees teenage hood as one which may vary from one culture to the other, as long as certain recognized criteria like those of an adult do not manifest themselves. This stage is characterized by efforts made to reach social, physical, mental, emotional development (Elder, 1980). This stage is a difficult one, therefore, the love, tolerance and compassion of parents/guardian is of great importance. Factors that enhances teenage pregnancy amongst secondary school students is as a result of the fact that most parents pay less attention to their children, coupled with the fact that teenagers today are growing up in a culture in which peers, television and motion pictures, music and magazines transmit either covert or overt message that unmarried sexual relationship specifically those involving teenagers are commonly accepted and at times expected behaviours have contributed immensely to the moral decadence rampant among our teenagers. Education about responsible sexual behaviour and specific, clear information about the consequences of sexual intercourse including pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STI) and psychological effects are frequently not offered in the home, at school or in community settings. Therefore, much of the “sex education” that teenagers receive filters through misinformed and/or uninformed peers. All of course, leads teenagers into early dating before which leads to premarital sex and early use of alcohol or other drugs including tobacco products, which could lead to pregnancy. Problems associated with factors enhancing teenage pregnancy are in most cases borne out of the fact that some parents are unable to play their roles properly in the lives of these teenagers. Such negative role include inability to discipline the child, excessive pampering of the child, over protection and parental neglect. These negative trends go a long way to give rise to a situation where parents are usually too busy to relate with their children, particularly in matters about sexuality which are usually frowned at whenever a child raises questions about it, and this leads to their going ahead to seek answers from their peer groups, which usually result to negative effects on teenagers. Other contributing factors are child abuse, ignorance, broken homes, poverty, funding or lack of school materials, pornographic materials and poor parental background, to mention but a few. Research has shown that early dating at age 12 is associated with a 91% chance of being sexually involved before the age of 19 and dating at age 13 is associated with a 56% probability of sexual involvement among adolescence or teenagers (Dominic Marchians, 2002). This problem of teenage pregnancy is not only peculiar to this part of the country. Other countries, such as the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK) have high teenage pregnancy rates. Although, the rate of teenage pregnancy has declined since 1991, it remains the highest in the developed world. Approximately, 97 per 1, 000 girls aged 15 – 19 of American teenagers become pregnant each year. The majority of these pregnancies – 78% are unintended (Agi, 1999). Moreover, because the average age of menarche has reached an all time low of about 12 – 13 years (Potts, 1990) and because four out of five young people have sex as teenagers. However, in Nigeria, particularly in Benin City, the problem is becoming very alarming and pre-marital sexual behavior, is the order of the day. This has resulted in a high rate of illegal abortions usually procured by teenage girls, cases of abandoned babies in the hospitals, maternity homes or clinics and dumping of babies in pit toilets, bushes or dustbins, as well as high rate of sexually transmitted infections (STI) such as Gonorrhea, syphilis, candidiasis and acquired immune deficiency syndrome AIDS among teenagers. In recent times, individuals, especially young girls view pregnancy and child bearing at teenage as a disruption to the mothers’ moral life because they find themselves in a position which they are not ready to assume. Such pregnancies are strongly rejected by the family and the immediate social community. This creates serious difficulties for the mother and to a large extent to the entire society.