Hey guys! I found this article in the humanitarian news and analysis online. It provides information about the disturbing teen pregnancies in South Africa. I am going to relate South Africa teenage pregnancies with the US teen pregnancies. This closely relates to what we have been talking about in class; comparing the similarities and differences of other counties to our own.
In Africa, alarming figures released by a South African provincial education department indicate that schoolgirl pregnancies have doubled in the past year, despite a decade of spending on sex education and AIDS awareness. The number of pregnant schoolgirls jumped from 1,169 in 2005 to 2,336 in 2006 in Gauteng, the country's economic heartland and most populous province, according to statistics. The problem is not equally serious in all parts of the country: on average, two to three girls fall pregnant in a typical school with 1,200 to 1,400 pupils. The study of contraception in South Africa found that social pressures often prevented young women from using contraception: "The girls felt they would only be accepted as women once they had proved their fertility - many mothers wanted their teenage daughters to become pregnant so they could have a baby at home again." Other factors are also driving the high teenage pregnancy rate in some areas. The “nurses” were uncomfortable about providing teenagers with contraception and attitudes were a major barrier of teens getting hold of contraception.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70538
Unlike South Africa the United States has much more access to contraception. Studies have shown in the United States, the later you wait to be sexually active, the more likely you are to use contraceptive and to use effective contraceptive methods, which substantially lead to lower pregnancy rates. The majority of the decline in teen pregnancy rates in the US (86%) is due to teens’ increasingly consistent contraceptive use; the rest is due to higher proportions of teens choosing to delay sexual activity. Of the 4.2 million U.S. births in 2008, fewer were to teen mothers than in the prior two years. The teen birth rate fell 2%. Teen pregnancy peaked in the 1990s and declined every year until 2005, then increased for two years before declining in 2008.
As you can see there are some differences in teen pregnancies all over the world. Here are some questions to continue this discussion: Can sex education programs prevent teenage pregnancy? What can South Africa do to promote contraception better?
The info presented in this article kind of bothered me. It was not the fact that teenage pregnancies were escalating, but more so the reason why. The problem to me is the peer pressure and the need fit in and prove yourself. These teens are not using contraception first and foremost because the females feel a need to prove how fertile they are. This is a major problem, not to mention the number of HIV/AIDS cases which im sure is growing because of these foolish needs to prove themselves. If there was more sex education opportunities in South Africa then the teens will be more informed about the consequences of having unsafe sex. When you know better, most of the time you do better, which hopefully will be the case. Another issue is the judgemental nurses who criticize the teens who do come for help such as contraceptive use. I think that if the person is going to have sex then why not allow them to have safe sex? Support is a major problem in that country, and until there is more education and support, the teen pregnancy rates will continue to soar. But with the proper education and resources, I believe this problem can be fixed/reduced.
ReplyDeleteSorry forgot to add my name again....1st comment above was by Seqwinya Stevens
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Seqwinya. In reading this post I was really horrified by the pressure put on these girls, not only from the culture they grow up in, but from their own mothers. I think education is a major issue in contraception use in Africa. Although there are clinics to help with this, it is likely that in rural areas the teens do not know about them. The pressure placed upon them by their peers, families, and even the nurses at the clinics also keeps the girls from using the proper methods of contraception. I personally can not fathom a clinic where contraception is readily available having nurses of such low character. You would think that a nurse working in Africa, where the scare of HIV is very real, would be smart/open-minded enough to realize that the kids are going to have sex with or without their judgement. It would be far more beneficial to have them be open and encouraging to the girls about contraception.
ReplyDeleteI think that the rising pregnancy rates would not only stall but probably drop significantly over the next few years if these few changes were made.
Commenter: Megan Moore :)
The articles you have provided were very informal especially the one pertaining to the teens in Africa. After reading that particular article in I have come to the conclusion that many, but not all of these teen mothers did not use self evaluation when choosing to have sex and become pregnant. As the article mentioned, social pressures encouraged sexual activity along with the teens mothers. Pressure from ones society can be very enticing and forceful and going against them can propose negative lifelong consequences. I am sure that many of these girls did not want to be a disappointment to their mothers or an embarrassment to their partners or friends.
ReplyDeleteWhat bothers me most about this dilemma is the nurses perspective on teenagers having sex. Their jobs do not entitle them to make criticized judgement but to provide care for their patients. They have made it to where these girls are scared to even ask for contraceptives. As also mentioned, some of these girls have become pregnant due to unforeseen circumstances. Being provided contraceptives may be their way of regaining or keeping power over their bodies.
To answer the two proposed questions, sex education programs cannot prevent pregnancy but the information provided can help decrease pregnancy rates. Also the South African population needs to encourage more support and protection for members of their culture especially the young women and women. Education can also be an effective method to promote contraceptives as well.
-Tiffany Williamson