How Early Pregnancy Is Affecting The Educational Attainment Of The Girl Child

All over the globe, societal challenges such as corruption, stigmatization, tribalism, social inequality, public health challenges to mention but a few continue to impede the development of nations. One of significant societal challenges generating debates amongst researchers and plaguing developing and developed societies is the teenage pregnancy as its impact on societal advancement, mortality rate, educational enrollment and attainment as well as child and psychological development has reached alarming levels globally. Teenage pregnancy therefore, can be described as the pregnancy by an adolescent or under-aged female between the ages of thirteen to nineteen years. It is also seen as a societal problem that sees adult functions such as sexual intercourse, nursing and reproduction performed by an individual deemed by the society as a child.

It is believed that victims of teenage pregnancy lacked information or probably were not adequately educated on safe-sex either by their parents, schools or development agencies that could have enabled them deal with friends who lure them into sex prematurely. Stressing that, children of single parents are more vulnerable to teenage pregnancy. Again exposure to most sexual content on television, sexuality in the media and pornographic and sex chart rooms by teenagers, could most likely tune them to engage in sexual activities.

The effect of teenage pregnancy not only on the teenage-mother, but also her child could be devastating. It has been observed that most teenage mothers could not continue with their education. Even if the teenage-mother eventually gets married, she becomes the primary care-taker and her chances of furthering her education decreases drastically. However, the consequence extends to the children. Teenage mothers tend to face more hardships, which extends beyond birth and have higher risks which is usually plagued by intellectual language and socio-emotional delays, resulting to their education not doing well in relation to child development and school readiness.

Teenage pregnancy leads to having a poorer educational outcome. In addition to pregnancy leading to poorer educational levels, parents’ response to their teenage daughter’s pregnancy played a role in their educational attainment; pregnant teenagers with supportive parents were able to go farther in their educational career than their counterparts. More so, a victim of unplanned pregnancy is likely to suffer or experience depression, frustration, fear and other emotional problems. Hence, the heightened risk for educational issues and injuries with children of adolescent parents is associated not with the influence of young age but the confounding influences of associated socio-demographic factors. Most teenagers become pregnant after they have hooked-up with their partners because of aggressiveness and curiosity of having sex.

EARLY PREGNANCY

Teenage pregnancy refers to pregnancies which occur when the girl child is below the age of 18 years. Unwanted, unplanned and out of wedlock. Teenage pregnancy may occur as a result of early maturity with good physical features, sometimes coupled with the onset of menstruation that varies from person to person, especially exposing a young girl to peer's influence.

CAUSES OF EARLY PREGNANCY

A) FAMILY BACKGROUND

The family background of a girl child is one of the causes of pregnancy. This is more prevalent in families that are poor or struggling to survive. The girl child might be tempted and influenced to have sexual relation with the opposite sex in exchange for money.

B) PEER GROUP

Peer pressure continues to destroy teenagers all over the world. Friends are known to be critical instruments of socialization and establish standards of behavior while serving as role models hence altering the sexual behavior and beliefs of the teenagers. In most cases they allow their decisions regarding sex be influenced by their peers.

There are situations where parents for the love for acquiring more wealth tend not to give attention to their children and careless of their activities. In such situation, the children find attention among their peers who could influence them positively or negatively.

C) CULTURE

Culture is people’s way of life. It encompasses the way they eat, their food, their dress, beliefs etc. therefore, the cultural belief of a people could be that they belief in early marriages as well belief that the place of a woman is in the kitchen and an instrument of child bearing. Therefore it is a total waste of resources to train the girl child in school. This cultural belief is one of the causes of early pregnancy of the girl child.

D) LACK OF COUNSELING

Lack of counseling is another cause of early pregnancy. Most people especially teenagers are unaware of the danger of having sexual relation with the opposite sex and the implication it has on their dreams and goals in life. Early pregnancy can deter on the purpose and dreams of the girl child. However, with proper counseling and guidance, the girl child will be saved from the regret that is accompanied with early pregnancy.

GIRL CHILD EDUCATION

Pregnancy of the girl-child has a devastating effect on the parents and ambition or career of the girl-child. A Pregnant girl face the trauma of parents and peers showdown. Here some parent become angry and fail to give support for the preservation of the girl and the unborn baby. For the girl child the trauma that comes with an early pregnancy is overwhelming such as loss of respect from friends and associates and the frustration is also more from rejection by parents and even the opposite sex who is responsible for the pregnancy and his parents most times.

The socio-economic, medical and psychological impact of pregnancy and parenthood in teenagers is overwhelming. Early motherhood affect the girl-child in the following ways: Psychosocial development of the infant, the children born are more likely to be born prematurely with a low birth rate predisposing them to many other life-long conditions. Children of teens mothers are at high risk intellectually, language and socio-emotional delays due lack of child care. Developmental disabilities and behavioral issues are on the increase due to ignorant of proper health care information.

As a result of early pregnancy, the girl child drop out of school since there is no one to give support and this would derail the girl and her child. However, the lack of care and support make them to become victims of child abuse and other societal vices.

EARLY PREGNANCY AND GIRL CHILD EDUCATION

Early pregnancy comes with a lot of setbacks academically. Pregnant teenage girls usually find it difficult to join their colleagues in day to day departmental assignments, sourcing of project materials for research purposes. More so teenage pregnancy is one of the social ills that affect society. The existence of teenage pregnancy do not auger well for the development of the girl-child. This is attributable to the girls’ age and the absence of any consistent means of support to care for the children and themselves when they should have been in school. It is alleged that teenage pregnancy and its associated motherhood are characterized with shame, disgrace, and school dropout and sometimes end of the individual’s dreams of achieving higher pursuits.

Well matured girls without adequate social training and self-discipline usually see sex as a means of social, economic, and emotional gratification and hastily go into it and become pregnant. it is indeed an over-pressing problem because of the enormous demands that sexual issues make on young persons. Sometimes, teenage pregnancy occurs as a result of sexual abuse that is rampant in our society today. It is evident for a child abused at a very early age to fulfill an adult or older sibling’s functions. The result of sexual abuse, however, is not restricted to problems in one's sexual life; they impair the development of themselves as an autonomous personality.

Most pregnant teenagers are expelled from their place of study and may not have the opportunity of being reabsorbed to the school system. This break in academic pursuit could hinder the future development opportunity as well as the quantity of life of the young person. In many societies, people stigmatize the pregnant teens. This act has to do with feelings of shame, guilt, anger, denial, and depression. Teenage pregnancy can be a contributing factor in cold self-esteem. Teens who got married at an early age are often afraid to tell friends, parents or other family members about their pregnancy which can lead to further anxiety, grief and aberration or even death in the society. Consequently, teenage pregnancy can lead to adverse emotional and psychological effects including resentment or anger which can be severe.

CONCLUSION

Conclusively, teenage pregnancy over the years has constituted significant educational and socio-economic challenges to societies. This rise in teenage pregnancy can be attributed to lack of education, poverty, sexual violence, and peer pressure to mention a few. There are number of consequences of teenage pregnancy which include; abortion, early child marriage, sexually transmitted diseases, mortality, school drop-out, and depression. One of the significant impacts of teenage pregnancy in the society is the reduction in school enrollment or drop outs in education. This is as a result of the fact that teenage pregnancy has consequence on the teenagers, parents, the child, health sector, and society in general.

There is need for sex education by parents and teachers as well with emphasis on the consequences of early pregnancy and an illegal sexual relation. It could result in an unwanted pregnancy, dropping out of school, rape, sexually transmitted Infections such as HIV/AIDS. The girl child by all means must be protected by all in the society.