- Jul 28, 2021
- Posted by: admin
- Category: Abstract of 4th-icmrss
Proceedings of The 4th International Conference on Modern Research in Social Sciences
Year: 2021
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/4th.icmrss.2021.07.900
The Rise in Teenage Pregnancy and Covid 19 Lockdown in Southern Senetorial District of Ondo State, Nigeria
Justina Olufunke Aruna
ABSTRACT:
Teenage pregnancy has become a pest in the society. Underage girls are caught in the jumble of being put into the family way. This has become widespread in the society and has led many young ladies to early graves as a result of failed abortions and which have led many to drop out of school. During the COVID-19 pandemic period control measures like closing of schools, restriction of movement, social distancing etc. were put in place in Nigeria to curtail the spread of the virus. And this period has become very challenging for girls and women. In-depth Interviews (IDIs) were conducted with 30 respondents who have experienced unwanted pregnancies using purposive sampling technique. The major finding is that the COVID-19 pandemic period is particularly a dangerous time for teenage girls because of the state of the economy, livelihood, hunger, and health crises worldwide. Several factors like influence of peer groups, lack of sex education, idleness, financial constraints, media influence, hawking etc have been attributed to the incessant increase of adolescent pregnancy at this period. Implications are that many of these teenagers will drop out of school which could lead to low educational attainment, marital instability, low income later in life, sexually transmitted diseases or vesico vaginal fistula (VVF) during child birth, social exclusion, unemployment, high mortality rate and early child marriage. The paper recommends; appropriate counselling, abstinence promotion, contraception information, sex education and school-completion strategies etc.
Keywords: Teenage Pregnancy, Covid 19, Idleness and Sex education.