FACTORS THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR PREGNANCY AMONGST SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

FACTORS THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR PREGNANCY AMONGST SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

CHAPITRE ONE

INTRODUCTION

The Study’s Context

Teenage pregnancy has long existed in culture and is thus not a new concern. Child pregnancy was common across all ethnic groups in the country and overseas. Its current social, economic, health, and spiritual impact on youth, families, and society at general is cause for concern. Teenagers nowadays do not view being pregnant at a young age without marriage to be an irresponsible behavior; rather, they consider it from the perspective that one condition or another may have led to such an act. This causes some of them to be victims for an extended period of time before stopping or even continuing until they reach adulthood.

A teen is someone aged 13 to 19 years old. Kay (2004) defines the adolescent year (the interval between childhood and adulthood) as a time of rapid growth and development. This is a time when youngsters battle or look for themselves, their future, and answers to the question, “What do I want to be?” Where should I begin? And what exactly do I want to do?

“Baby having a baby” could be used to describe a teen pregnancy. This means that every pregnancy in a girl under the age of 18 is easily classified as a teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy is defined as pregnancy in human females under the age of 20 at the end of the pregnancy. A pregnancy in a pubertal female can occur before menarche (the first menstrual period), which indicates the possibility of fertility, but it usually occurs after menarche. Menarche normally occurs at the age of 12 or 13 in well-nourished girls. Teenagers who are pregnant suffer many of the same obstetrical concerns as regular women. However, there are additional medical problems for mothers under the age of 15. For moms aged 15 to 19, the risks are related with socioeconomic variables rather than biological impacts of age. However, research has demonstrated that the risks of low birth weight, early labor, anemia, and pre-eclampsia are linked to biological age, as found in adolescent deliveries even after correcting for other risk factors (such as antenatal care utilization, etc.).

Teenage pregnancies are frequently related with socioeconomic concerns in industrialized countries, such as lower educational levels, higher rates of poverty, and other negative life outcomes in children of teenage mothers. Teenage pregnancy is common in industrialized countries and carries a social stigma in many groups and cultures. Teenage parents in developing nations, on the other hand, are frequently married, and their pregnancies are celebrated by family and society. However, in these communities, early pregnancy might bring medical complications when combined with hunger and poor health care.

Problem Expression

With the increase in mass education about family planning and sex education on radios (made available in local language by organizations such as the society for family health and distribution of condoms and family planning method), there is a high rate of teenage pregnancy, prompting the question, “What are the factors responsible for teenage pregnancy among secondary school students and its effect on their academic achievement?”

Early parenting can have an impact on the infant’s mental development. Children of teen mothers are more likely to be born prematurely and with low birth weight, predisposing them to a variety of long-term health issues. Children of teen mothers are more likely to experience cognitive, language, and socio-emotional deficits. Children born to teen moms have an increased risk of developmental problems and behavioral disorders. According to one study, adolescent women are less likely to excite their newborn through affectionate behaviors such as contact, smiling, and verbal communication, as well as to be attentive and tolerant of his or her needs. Poor academic performance has also been observed among the children of teenage mothers, with many of them being more likely than the average to fail to graduate from secondary school, be held back a grade level, or perform poorly on standardized examinations. Adolescent mothers’ daughters are more likely to become teen mothers themselves.

The high rate of teenage pregnancy, as well as the health concerns connected with it, such as prolonged labor, vesico vaginal fistula (V.V.F), perineal tear, early labor, and pre-eclampsia, endangers the mothers’ lives and well-being. This necessitated the conduct of this research at Command Secondary School in Kaduna. It is also important in determining its effects on teenagers and viable solutions to curb the rising rate of teenage pregnancy.

The Study’s Objectives

The study’s goal is to identify the many factors that contribute to pregnancy among secondary school students, which are as follows:

i. To determine the factors that contribute to teenage pregnancy among secondary school students.

ii. To investigate the consequences of adolescent pregnancy among female secondary school students.

iii. Discover methods to reduce adolescent pregnancy.

The Importance of the Research

The community, parents, society, and government will be educated on the implications and repercussions of adolescent pregnancy among secondary school students in the research region.

The findings of this study may also raise awareness among instructors and the general public about the variables that contribute to teenage pregnancy, hence reducing its occurrence.

Research Issues

To guide the investigation, the following research questions have been developed. 1. What factors contribute to adolescent pregnancy?

2. What are the consequences of adolescent pregnancy on the secondary school?

students in school?

3. What strategies could be used to prevent adolescent pregnancy among secondary school students?

The Study’s Scope and Limitations

This study is being conducted at Command Secondary School in Kaduna. The research may have gained more by studying the entire population to obtain more accurate data, but owing to time and financial constraints, a small sample of fifty (50) respondents would be chosen to represent the entire population.