Friday 20 July 2012

FRIDAY HEAT: Who is to blame for teenage pregnancy? The media, the society or the family?

The rate at which teenagers get pregnant these days is quite baffling. It's like every caution drummed in their ears to avoid pre-marital sex has been drowned in River Niger. You see a 15 year-old girl heavy with child and you begin to wonder if she can go through the labour pains that accompanies pregnancy.

Nowadays, it's difficult to differentiate between an adult and a teenager. Young girls are eager to dress like adults, act like adults, and be addressed as an adult. In addition, the rate at which these kids mature is alarming. Back in the 80s and early 90s, the age when a young girl can start her menstrual period was between 13-15 but in this generation, you will see a 10 year-old girl already on her menstrual period.

Does early maturity contribute to this decadent norm in the society?
What about the society? Are things put in place to provide for these kids or not?
Then we have the media which role in the society include education? Are they implementing that role efficiently? Or the social media which has provided a platform for social interaction, how has it affected our teenager's perspective generally towards lifestyle and aspirations?

Thus, the question who is to blame for teenage pregnancy? Is it that the family is not playing its role well or what?
Is the media contributing to this in any way?
Or is the society we live in encouraging these kids to engage in pre-marital sex?

What is your take on this? Let the heat begin.

6 comments:

  1. To be honest with you, there is nothing new about
    teenage pregnancy
    A woman's body is programmed to sustain the
    trauma of child birth at such a tender age
    The age of an average mother has increased not
    reduced The only difference is that the teenage moms of 50
    to 100 years ago were married, the ones of today
    aren't.
    However, the economy is not helping matters. If the
    society provides for the welfare of its inhabitants,
    then it will be easier for parents to monitor their kids and give them things to hope for.
    There are things you place in a young girl's life to
    de-mystify sex
    It's about giving them things to hope for. My point is that your fear of teenage pregnancy as
    an epidemic is not supported by history.
    After all, my paternal grandma gave birth to my dad
    when she was about 15 or so. Nevertheless, The
    fear for Nigerian society is whether women having
    children late will not create a health crisis So, your campaign should be about the need for
    folks to get married, maybe you should call for an
    economic overhaul. More jobs would yield better economic conditions
    for men to invest in marriage.
    Thus instead of having unmarried teenagers
    burdened with pregnancy, we will have young
    married teens. How about that?
    Francis Obi Lawyer, Abuja

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think the whole onus is on the family. If the parents fail in their role to inculcate moral values to the kids as well as provide for their basic needs, then the kids won't place sex as their major priorities in life.
    However; the society we live in today is a corrupt one. There is circulation of money and if these kids dont get their needs attended to from their parents, they will fall victims to the predators out there.
    Lina, entrepreneur
    Lagos

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oops!!!! I think i made a mistake. Meant to say if the parents fail in their role to inculcate moral values to these kids as well as provide for their basic needs, then the kids "WILL" not "won't" sex as their major priority in life.
    Lina.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Guys of now jus love young pussy and d girls are willin to experiment, dats all.

      Cassanova

      Delete
    2. Is that all that matters in life now??? Sex?
      Society has made this so and sadly; many youths are living this lie.
      Lina

      Delete
  4. We are all to blame: Parents, families, leaders,
    politicians, the
    powerful, the society, the environment we live in,
    and the individuals involved.
    You had mentioned some of the reasons in your
    article but the fact now is
    that, sadly, enough, there is no solution because
    we are now in a point of no
    returns. It the new world we live...
    The 80s or 90s you mentioned had gone forever:
    maybe due to civilization
    or the current environment. The morality of the
    family is gone. Civilization
    has brought us girls growing up before their time.
    Just look at our TV
    shows and the programs they carry, and you
    cannot but see girls busting to me
    "grown up" before their time. lets look at older
    girls and see what they
    wear, what values to portray and many other
    "Show off" mentalities.....then,
    who among us would not copy them?...the girls in
    question
    Some never planned it and the men that slept
    with them never "Give a
    damn," pardon my language
    Maybe, the girls were deceived hoping their lives
    will be better or be
    somebody....or maybe, they lack family planning
    or many do not know anything
    about it...no motivation...maybe dues to
    ignorance and the people that
    preyed on them took advantage of them...you
    see, there are blames to go
    around......
    Then, we see the arms of poverty, poor
    education, lack of self confidence,
    all of these also contributed to the malice.
    Then we have those who should have done
    something about the problems but
    take advantage of the innocence because of their
    immaturity and ambition.
    The good news is that, this phenomenon is not
    limited to Nigeria alone.
    Goggle it and you will find it in East Asia, Unites
    States, North America and
    everywhere else all over the globe.
    the question now is what can we do now that we
    know the problem is here to
    stay? My simple answer is simple: Nothing
    Wright
    Virginia, USA

    ReplyDelete