Sex Education And Prevention Of Unwanted Pregnancy Among Teenage Girl In Choba Community

1.1 Background of the Study

Teenagers all over the world attract attention. This may be as a result of their seemingly radical behaviour at home to parents, their peculiar stubbornness at school or simply because of their future relevance to policy Health. In addition to its biomedical determinants, is influenced by many social and cultural factors. This influence is often negative with a resultant increase in the number of social hazards, which finally aggravate the already poor health status of the developing societies. One such social hazard of serious consequences on the nation as a whole is pregnancy in an adolescent girl, who herself is yet to attain her full growth potential (Beutel, 2000). 

The transition from childhood to adulthood may be referred to as ‘adolescence’ or ‘teenage’, which has been defined by the World Health Organization as the period between 10-19 years (Brosh, Weigel, and Evans, 2007).

This is the period when structural, functional, and psychosocial developments occur in a child to prepare her for assuming the responsibility of motherhood. Child marriage and early confinement is a long established custom in India, with poverty and ignorance magnifying the problem (Brownson, 2009).

In our country, teenage pregnancies after marriage, in contrast to unwed pregnancies in developed countries, have social approval but have an adverse impact on maternal mortality and prenatal morbidity. Pregnancy in very young women is generally considered to be a very high risk event, because teenage girls are physically and psychologically immature for reproduction. In addition, there are some extrinsic factors such as inadequate prenatal care, illiteracy, and poor socio-economic conditions that affect the outcome of pregnancy in teenage girls (Center for Assessment and Policy Development, 1999).

Several medical complications like preterm birth, poor maternal weight gain, pregnancy-induced hypertension, anaemia, and sexually transmitted diseases are strongly associated with teenage pregnancy (Beutel, 2000).  It also adversely affects the status of women. Preserving the health of women has been given high priority in the Reproductive and Child Health Program. Knowing the burden of pregnancy in teenagers will go a long way in advocacy and devising appropriate intervention measures (Duncan, 2011).

Socio-economic outcomes have been the traditional focus of research on teenage parents, often finding a negative impact on employment and earnings (Beutel, 2000). However, education can help to mitigate these negative outcomes. In 2008, workers who possessed a high school diploma or its equivalent earned, on average, nearly 44% ($10,000) more per year than those who dropped out of high school (Infoplease, 2011). For economic reasons alone, it pays to stay in school and graduate.  

Education is widely recognized as the gateway to economic security and opportunity particularly for the girl child and this does not exclude Sex education (Nwajiuba 2011). Wikipedia(2011) defines sex education as a "a broad term used to describe about human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and other aspects of human sexual behavior. 

Adepoju (2005) averred that in recent times, the youth who constitute ages 10-24 years and 36.7 per cent of the Nigerian population, are found to be highly vulnerable to antisocial behaviors such as violent crimes, unsafe sexual activities and drug abuse among others. Most parents believe their children need basic information about sex and sexual self protection. Mkumbo and Ingham (2010) posited that provision of Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) in schools is crucial in protecting young people against sexual health problems, such as HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancy. Alo and Akinde (2010) in their article titled "Premarital Sexual Activities in an Urban Society of Southwest Nigeria" asserted that "Nigeria is a relatively culturally conservative country; the topic of sex is still considered a taboo between parents and children. A child learns through the mass media and peers unguided. Children learn the important topic of sex education in negative manners, rather than having proper sex socialization at home or in schools". This point was buttressed by Chukwudum and Gloria (2001) when they posited that "Parent-child communication in sexual matters was either non-existent or negative before maturity, which for girls is at age of menarche." Mothers are uncomfortable and think it is embarrassing imparting sex education to their daughters. They believe girls can get information through:

* Their friends and elder sisters;

* Doctors, health personnel and teachers;

They also feel sex education should be imparted to girls only after attaining menarche.

Although research shows that pregnancy is the leading factor limiting a teenage mother’s educational attainment, Zachry (2005) noted that other studies have suggested that these students’ reasons for leaving school have more to do with school policies and previous school experiences than with being pregnant. Teenage mothers have expressed negative perceptions about education, including a lack of relevance and a negative school environment. In her literature review, Zachry cited studies by several researchers who identified these issues as structural disorganization and negative teacher interactions. 

1.2. Statement Of The Problem

Odu and Christian (2007) posited that "teenage parenthood is by no means a new phenomenon, women have tended to begin childbearing during their teens and early twenties" and according to them "physical and sexual maturity among adolescents is not accompanied by an ability to handle their sexuality in a responsible manner. And it's noted that young people, especially the very young are faced today with decision making beyond their experience".

Olaitan (2010) asserted that "the problem of unwanted pregnancy can be due to poverty and ignorance of the parents on sex education. It has also been found that the type of films teenagers watch has exposed them negatively. Some fall victim of unwanted pregnancy through peer pressure since most parents think it is embarrassing to teach or talk to their children about sex education and feel the children should learn from friends, classmates or elder sisters. The consequences of unwanted pregnancy are numerous, he further asserted that "School attendance becomes more difficult or impossible while nursing a baby; the teenage mother may be forced to drop out from school. Where she is abandoned into the boy or the man responsible for her pregnancy, such forced cohabitation arrangements hardly last". Female dropouts from school undermine the government's efforts in ensuring education for all and achieving one of the Millennium Development Goals. The national productivity is also negatively affected as high school dropout rates due to teenage pregnancy and low education levels means lower human capital development, consequently leading to lower incomes and reduced contributions to the Gross Domestic Product. Despite all efforts made by the government and teachers in integrating sex education into the school curriculum, there is still a very high rate of teenage pregnancy recorded in the country (Adebayo and Isiakpona, 2012).

Arowojolu et al (2002) posited that "indiscriminate sexual intercourse exposes youths to the risk of sexually transmitted diseases especially where it involves multiple sexual partners. The implication of this is far-reaching, considering the several complications of STDs especially AIDS".

Alo and Akinde (2010) reported that the consequences of premarital sex, STDs (as well as HIV) are higher for females than for males. If a young girl becomes pregnant, she places herself and her unborn child at further risk because a young girl's body may not have developed to the point of being able to handle childbirth safely. Even if a teen mother escapes severe health consequences, she must still face the serious responsibilities of parenthood.

Ilika & Anthony (2004) posited that the health and social consequences of unwanted or unintended teenage pregnancy have been very much described. These include, among others, increased risk of maternal death, pregnancy and birth-related complications such as excessive bleeding, anaemia, obstructed labour, stillbirth and infant death The socio-economic consequences include education and job termination, somatization, and loss of self-esteem and perpetuation of the poverty trap and cycle. In view of the aforementioned, this study seek to examine sex education and prevention of unwanted pregnancy among teenage girl in Choba Community.