Time to fight rising adolescent pregnancies

Over the years, just before the national examinations, we get to hear of schoolgirls who are either pregnant or have babies. This elicits discussions on girls sitting their exams in hospital or even the school with the highest number of pregnant students.

Sadly, we rarely investigate the matter and the oft-repeated occurrence remains a puzzle and leads to blame games.

A United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report on adolescent and teenage pregnancies in Kenya shows 378,397 girls aged 10 to 19 got pregnant between July 2016 and June this year. Some 28,932 girls aged 10-14 got pregnant, same as 349,465 in age 15-19.

Of the 47 counties, Narok had the highest rate of teenage pregnancies at 40 per cent, followed by Homa Bay (33) and Tana River (28).

SEXUALLY ACTIVE

In Kenya, a 10-14-year-old girl is in Standard Five to Eight. These are still children; sadly, they are having children, hence “child parents” or “children bringing up children”.

This data reinforces the recent news about a group of primary school pupils caught engaging in sexual activities.

I grew up in a society where every child belonged to the society and a stranger could discipline you and report you to your parents. Sexual activities were “tabia mbaya” (bad manners), to be avoided at all costs. But times have changed; with technological advancements, more freedoms and rights for children, we all mind our own business.

How can the society delay the age of sexual debut? What leads to teenage pregnancies?

Based on perceptions and arguments that I have heard, teenage pregnancies have been attributed to poverty; people argue that the girls engage in “transitional” sex to meet basic needs.

Others blame “absentee parents”, or lack of parental guidance, and exposure to information on the internet, which can lead to curiosity.

'MATURE MINORS'

Yet others say these are “mature minors” who consented to sex and, lastly, the problem is attributed to “some people” taking advantage of the innocence of the girls.

The bottom line is that we are having far too many adolescent and teenage mothers, a trend that should be changed.

But how can we avert teenage pregnancies? I believe, it is time we strongly supported age-appropriate sexuality education at all levels — from our families, schools and even places of worship. We all need to be on the same page on age-appropriate sexuality and the information we are giving out.

It is also time to acknowledge that we have many cases of defilement leading to pregnancies that the society looks at as “the girl consented to sex”. When the girl in question is a minor, the case needs to be investigated.

EMPOWERED GENERATION

Lastly, it might be time to acknowledge that, when all is said and done, we will still have teenagers who require contraceptives. This is a discussion that is long overdue.

Psychologist James C. Dobson said parenting is not for cowards. As a society, we all have a role to play. Let us take our place to bring up a better-informed, -equipped and -empowered generation that makes the right decisions and choices, reducing adolescent and teenage pregnancies.

Ms Mwende is a social scientist. [email protected]