CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Unwanted pregnancy is an undesirable phenomenon occurring among educationally and economically under-privilege females. Unwanted pregnancy and abortion are one of the major contemporary issues confronting most countries in the world today. From the first world countries, such as the United States to the third world countries, this problem has become a greater source of worries for policy makers, social workers and other service providers due to its negative repercussions on the girl-child (Grunseit, 2017). It has been observed that increasingly, the problem of unwanted pregnancy in Adolescent is by no means an easy topic to discuss. It is often that the Adolescent years are the “best years of one’s life”. According to Undiyaundeye (2012) in her book titled “Introduction to Child studies: Help us to grow into our dreams” suggested that the girl-child gets misinformation highlighted in the beauty of the Adolescent years in her famous Quote: “the four stages of human life are; infancy, childhood, Adolescence and Adolescent (the condition of no longer being used or useful) in her opinion, life becomes useless after Adolescence period if not properly reared by parents and other adults”. As true as this assertion may be, it is ironic to note that this is the only part of the picture. However, life for many Adolescent is a painful tug of war fixed with mixed messages and conflicting demands from parents, teachers, friends, family and oneself.
Unwanted pregnancy is a pregnancy that is mistimed, unplanned, or unwanted at the time of conception. It mainly results from the lack of, inconsistent, or incorrect use of effective contraceptive methods. It may also result from rape in which emergency contraception is not used. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. A pregnancy can change from wanted to unwanted (and vice versa) during the course of a pregnancy through the reactions of others or external economic pressure. In some instances, a change of circumstances (e.g. the lack of support from a partner) might lead to the pregnancy becoming unwanted, and thus an initially intended/wanted pregnancy may eventually be terminated. In other cases, an unwanted pregnancy may be welcomed due to prevailing circumstances. The term in every day speech usually refers to women who have not reached adulthood who become pregnant, (Oguguo, 2015).
Adolescence is often used interchangeably with Adolescent. World Health Organization – WHO (2017) opined that, it is the period between 10 and 19 years when the secondary sex characteristics appear. Turner and Helms (2013) reported that the adolescence years fall between the ages of 13 and 19 years. The issue of pregnancies among adolescents girls seems to be one of the social problems facing not only Nigeria, but also several other nations of the world.
Most authors have linked poverty to Adolescent pregnancy and its subsequent motherhood. They see poverty as a cause at the same time an effect of Adolescent pregnancy. For instance, Keller, Hilton &Twumasi-Ankrah (2011) opined that in rural communities, family financial exigencies and social custom induce girls to stay out of school and enter into early sexual relationships which lead them into getting pregnant at early stages of their lives thereby making them continue to be in the cycle of poverty. This presupposes that tackling Adolescent or adolescent pregnancy would have a trickling down effects on poverty and vice-versa.
Adolescent pregnancy is one of the social ills that affect society. The existence of Adolescent pregnancy do not auger well for the development of the girl-child. This is attributable to the girls’ age and the absence of any consistent means of support to care for the children and themselves when they should have been in school. It is alleged that Adolescent pregnancy and its associated motherhood are characterized with shame, disgrace, school dropout, abortion and sometimes end of the individual’s dreams of achieving higher pursuits. According to Jegede (2012), “approximately 60% of Adolescent mothers live in poverty at the time of the birth of their babies, and approximately 73% go on welfare within 5 years of giving birth.”
Some of the cause of unwanted pregnancy and abortion are poverty, age discrepancy in relationships, media influence, peer pressure, absent parents, glamorization of pregnancy, lack of knowledge, sexual abuse or rape, Adolescent drinking, dating violence, childhood environments, sexuality, low educational expectations, foster care.
According to Aremu (2016), unwanted pregnancy among adolescent has a lot of social consequences which include school drop-out or interrupted schooling, falling prey to criminal activity, abortion, ostracism, child neglect, school adjustment difficulties for their children, adoption, lack of social security, poverty, repeated pregnancy and negative effects on domestic life.
It is suggested that school drop-out is a “uniquely predictive factor” of Adolescent pregnancy and a precursor to, rather than a consequence of, becoming pregnant (Bonell, 2014). Difficulties with school are accounted for in three inter-linked ways: firstly a strong dislike of school that leads to truancy, dropping out or formal exclusion (Hosie, 2017), secondly a lack of educational attainment (Hobcraft&Kiernan, 2011), and thirdly low aspirations and expectations of the education system as being relevant for their future employment (Luker, 2016).
According to Enejere, (2011) generally felt that Adolescent pregnancy has a very negative effect on the future performance of children of Adolescent mothers. He stated that it is very rare for the children of Adolescent mothers to perform better at school be-cause in most cases, children tend to follow in the footsteps of their mothers. Educators were of the opinion that the adolescent family background play a major role towards the academic performance of the child and that it all depended on the parental support or proper parenting knowledge that a Adolescent would have on her child. The negative effect of unwanted pregnancy on the future performance of the children of the affected adolescents as perceived by the educators is caused by in-experienced mother Adolescent and uneducated mother Adolescent.
According to Hosie (2017) bullying by teachers or other students were instrumental in their dislike of school. Those students whose attendance are poor and who dislike school prior to pregnancy have a negative attitude from their schools on disclosure of their condition and are less likely to remain in school than those who had good attendance beforehand (Hosie, 2017). The extensive literature review by Dilworth (2010) suggested that statistically, young mothers face a life of poverty, have lower levels of education and have less opportunity in the workplace than non-parenting teens. She found that research on teen pregnancy prevention usually focuses on the negative aspects of being a teen parent. It is also alleged that the relationship between Adolescent pregnancy and education goes in both directions. Adolescent who become pregnant are more likely to commit abortion or drop out of school and Adolescent who drop out of school are more likely to become pregnant. It is against this background that this study seeks to explore the incidence of unwanted pregnancy and abortion among adolescent in Ado Local Government Area in Ekiti State.
Statement of the Problem
Adolescent years are the most stressful and confusing times of life. During this period, Adolescent are expected to acquire education and skills needed for the future. On the contrary, many adolescents girls engage in premarital sexual activities, which expose them to the risks of unwanted pregnancy which may leads to abortion and relative problems such as sexually transmitted infection (STIs).
As observed, some of the students that are victims of unwanted pregnancy on the attempt to abort the pregnancy have been resulted to death. Some of them will find it difficult to complete their education programme due to financial constraint because in some cases parents will refuse to continue with the payment of their school fees which usually resulted to failure and dropout.
There have been cases of victims of unwanted pregnancy that had lead to lost of life in the course of delivery due to complications of which malnutrition could be the cause or inexperience doctors. Some of them may find it difficult to give birth again.
Psychological problem will set out, highly depressed and tend to commit suicide. Adolescent mothers are more likely to have medical complications during pregnancy and prolonged labor. Their babies are more likely to be born prematurely and to have low birth weights. These are caused by inadequate pre-natal care and poor nutrition often experienced by Adolescent mothers living in conditions of poverty.
Based on the above problems, this study will investigate the incidence of unwanted pregnancy and abortion among adolescent in Ado Local Government Area in Ekiti State.
Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of the study is to examine the incidence of unwanted pregnancy and abortion among adolescent in Ado Local Government Area in Ekiti State. The specific objectives are;
i. To examine the factors that lead to unwanted pregnancy among adolescents in Ado Local Government.
ii. To examine the factors that lead to abortion among adolescents in Ado Local Government.
iii. To examine effects of unwanted pregnancy and abortion on educational opportunities among adolescents girls.
iv. To examine strategies to be employed in eradicating unwanted pregnancy and abortion among adolescents in Ado Local Government Area in Ekiti State.
Research Questions
The following research questions are raised;
1. What are the factors that lead to unwanted pregnancy and abortion among adolescents in Ado Local Government.
2. What are the factors that lead to abortion among adolescents in Ado Local Government.
3. What are the strategies to be employed in eradicating unwanted pregnancy and abortion among adolescents in Ado Local Government Area in Ekiti State.
Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses are raised for the study
i. Unwanted pregnancy has no significant effect on adolescents in Ado Local Government.
ii. Abortion has no significant effect on adolescents in Ado Local Government.
Significance of the Study
This study would be of great benefits to educational stakeholder, adolescent school girls, parents and researchers.
This findings of this research would be of benefit to educational stakeholders because the result of this study would educated them on the effect of unwanted pregnancy and abortion on adolescents education and how to prevent their girl student from being pregnant, The result of this study would enable educational stakeholder, teachers, supervisors counselor to check the activities of schools and organize programmes or seminar that would educate their students especially their female students on how to avoid unwanted pregnancy and importance of sex education. The study would enable parents to know the problems associated with unwanted pregnancy and abortion and why they need to give their female children sex education.
The study would help adolescent to know the problem inherent in unwanted pregnancy and abortion and the need to avoid sex before marriage the study would also serve as guide to students and researchers who may want to carryout research on similar topic. The study will be an addition to existing literature.
Delimitation of the Study
The study is delimited to the incidence of unwanted pregnancy and abortion among adolescent in Ado Local Government Area in Ekiti State. Consequently, it is also delimited to five (5) quarters in Ado Ekiti.
Definition of Terms
Adolescent : A Adolescent, or teen, is a person who falls within the ages of 20 years old. The word "Adolescent" is another word for an Adolescent.
Girl Child: The girl-child is a biological female offspring from birth to eighteen (18) years of age.
Legal Adulthood: This refer to a mature female whose age is above twenty years of age.
Adolescent pregnancy: Is pregnancy in human females under the age of 20 and below at the time that the pregnancy ends. A pregnancy can take place after the start of the puberty before first menstrual period, but usually occurs after the onset of periods.
Unwanted pregnancy: Is a pregnancy that is mistimed, unplanned, or unwanted at the time of conception.
0 Comments