On teenage pregnancy: Are we doing enough?

Photo from Pixabay

 

The Philippines has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the world.  According to Philippine Statistics Authority, one in every ten women age 15-19 years old is already a mother or pregnant with first child and every hour, there were 24 babies born by teenage mothers. 

Unplanned sexual encounters or the prominent line of the millennials “getting caught up in the moment,” peer pressure, lack of information or knowledge about sex education and failed communication inside the family are some of the reasons for becoming pregnant among teenagers. Most of the time, teens do not have enough knowledge on how their bodies work, how to protect themselves, and absolutely have no idea about what condoms or contraceptives mean.

Filipinos are raised in a culture where parents are afraid to bring up the topic about “Sex Education” to their kids. Thus, teenage pregnancy is likely to happen when there are no parents to approach for discussions of the consequences of premarital sex.  

However, it is not the family who is the sole responsible for this social issue, it is the whole system; the community, the individual and the government who should take some actions towards the alarming raise of teenage pregnancy in the Philippines.  Aside from this, teens should also know that having babies at a very early age is neither good for mother’s nor baby’s health. Babies who are born to adolescent mothers face a higher risk of dying than those who born to women aged 20 to 24. Based on the data from World Health Organization, there is a high and increasing incidence of infant death in Filipino mothers under 20.

The whole system should educate and empower the young ones to set educational and career goals before having children to prevent teenage pregnancy. Teenagers should be aware of the dangers when engaging to premarital sex despite the use of protective devices and contraception.

Also, the parents need to know that they can strongly influence their children’s decisions, so it is vital that they should be involved when the issue of sex arises.  Let the kids know that they can ask their parents about anything.

The schools, university and other educational institutions can also do their part by providing the essential information on sex education, consequences of sexual activity and encouraging the youth in completing their academic education and look forward to having a better future.

It is necessary that teens be provided with wide-ranging information of premarital sex, because the truth is, there are still who will be involved in sexual relations and it is better to be prepared than to do nothing at all.

–Racquel Verdadero