The Incidence of Teenage Pregnancy Among Secondary School Girls in Onitsha Ugbo Aniocha North Lga Delta State
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the study
- To ascertain the cause of prevalence of teenage pregnancy among secondary school female students in onitsha ugbo Aniocha North LGA delta state
- To ascertain whether broken home or divorce cause of prevalence of teenage pregnancy among the secondary school female students in onitsha ugbo Aniocha North LGA delta state
- To ascertain whether sex education cause of prevalence of teenage pregnancy among the secondary school female students in onitsha ugbo Aniocha North LGA delta state
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
Pregnancies among youths seems to be one of the social problems facing not only Nigeria, but also several other nations of the world. Surveys by investigators such as Briggs (2001), Gyepi-Garbrah (1985), Onuzulike (2003) and others revealed that teenagers become sexually active at an early age with corresponding high fertility. Teenage sexual activities in Nigeria also tend to be on the increase (Nwosu, 2005, Okafor, 1997). A major consequence of these increase sexual activities among teenagers is out of wedlock pregnancies that may result in abortion, childbirth or even death. Studies have proven that students’ sexual relationship is on the rampage and common in most of African schools (Jones &Espey, 2008; Mgalla, et al., 1998). The trend is rapidly changing and the incidence of student-adolescents’ engaging in sexual relationship is high and may constitute problems (Ngalinda, 1998) including social, health and academic. Students’ sexual activity has resulted into increased cases of unwanted pregnancies, poor academic performance, and eventually school dropouts (Mlyakado, 2013). However, studies in Nigeria have not seriously investigated the effects of sexual relationship on students’ academic performance. Most of previous studies in Nigeria have invested in studying factors affecting academic performance in general. Factors studied include such as teachers’ incompetence, student’s low motivation, teachers’ low morale, the level of sexual activity of students, etc. summarized in Timothy (2010).
Evidences from other countries like Tanzania, Ghana and Cameroon may help to understand the existing relationship between students’ sexual relationship and academic performance. In the United States, a number of studies have proven that, teenagers who abstain from sex are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college than their sexually active peers (Sabia& Rees, 2009). Although American context is not comparable to Nigeria due to great differences of the two countries in socio-economic, educational and technological development, still this review therefore lays a good foundation to understanding sexual behaviors and academic performance of students in different contexts including Nigeria.
It is agreed that a romantic relationship is an important element in an adolescent life. Youth spend much of their time thinking, talking, and engaging in romantic relationships. Strong positive or negative emotions in youth are more commonly caused by romantic relationships as opposed to other kinds of relationships (such as with friends, parents, or school staff) (Furman & Shaffer, 2003). It is often believed that romantic relationships may negatively affect youth’s academic outcomes because the time spent with a romantic partner might distract one from schoolwork.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought the causes and effects of teenage pregnancy among secondary schools in Oredo local government area of Edo state
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected from the respondents were analyzed in tabular form with simple percentage for easy understanding.
A total of 133(one hundred and thirty three) questionnaires were distributed and 133 questionnaires were returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain The incidence of teenage pregnancy among secondary school girls in onitsha ugbo Aniocha North LGA delta state. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing challenges of the incidence of teenage pregnancy among secondary school girls
Summary
This study was on The incidence of teenage pregnancy among secondary school girls in onitsha ugbo Aniocha North LGA delta state. Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain the cause of prevalence of teenage pregnancy among secondary school female students in onitsha ugbo Aniocha North LGA delta state, to ascertain whether broken home or divorce cause of prevalence of teenage pregnancy among the secondary school female students in onitsha ugbo Aniocha North LGA delta state and to ascertain whether sex education cause of prevalence of teenage pregnancy among the secondary school female students in onitsha ugbo Aniocha North LGA delta state. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of selected secondary school in onitsha ugbo Aniocha North LGA delta state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made principals, vice principals administration, senior staff and junior staff were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
Teenage pregnancy has a detrimental effect on the education and future plans of teenagers. This is because the teenage mothers attend school irregularly and sometimes drop out of school Teenage pregnancy is a social as well as an economic issue as it portends low education and employment, high rate of poverty and the psycho-social stigma it carries more so when it is out of wedlock. The correlation between earlier childbearing and failure to complete high elementary school reduces career opportunities for many young mothers
Recommendation
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made:
- Since majority of the adolescent girls dropped out of school because of teenage pregnancy, school heads should accommodate those who are still interested in continuing with their educational pursuit after having their babies to complete their education by accepting them back.
- Since many of the adolescents indicated ignorance of safe and unsafe period of sex as a factor in teenage pregnancy, programmes aimed at educating youths on sexuality and sex education should be introduced into the school curricula. More counselors should be employed in schools to take care of this aspect of the curricula.
- Parents should be educated through seminars on the importance of discussing sexuality and the dangers of premarital sex with their children especially the females.
- The teaching of sex and sexuality education should be made compulsory in all schools to help adolescents understand their physiological make up.
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