Who should talk to kids about sex?
"If pregnancy were a book they would cut the last two chapters."
Nora Ephron
The rate of teenage pregnancy in Ghana is high. Every year the number of teenagers getting pregnant is growing, especially in certain regions.
In my opinion, one of the causes of teenage pregnancy is lack of parental care and control. Some parents cannot provide their children’s needs: physical such as food, clothing or even shelter as well as emotional. Therefore, children find their own ways and means to get what they need. One of these ways is to compensate the lack of emotional and/or financial support from the parents with a boyfriend. If the girl is not lucky, she will get pregnant.
Thus, we come across another important factor contributing to teenage pregnancy: absence or lack of sex education. In Ghana it is not common to hear parents talk to their children about sex. Some parents even assume that teaching their kids about sex will spoil them, while not knowing (about sex) will rather protect them, and, therefore, they avoid such topics. It is, however, important for the girls to know about the effects sex can have on their lives.
I believe that a good informal solution to the issue of teenage pregnancy is for parents to try their best to not only control, but rather get closer to their kids, and give them advice concerning sex. This way girls will more likely share their problems and worries with their parents. They will also know the dangers of sex if parents don’t hide sex-related information from them.
Key facts about adolescent pregnancy (from World Health Organization):
About 16 million girls aged 15 to 19 and some 1 million girls under 15 give birth every year—most in low- and middle-income countries.
Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the second cause of death for 15-19 year-old girls globally.
Every year, some 3 million girls aged 15 to 19 undergo unsafe abortions.
Babies born to adolescent mothers face a substantially higher risk of dying than those born to women aged 20 to 24.
