Orientation To Honors 100-01 Media Analysis: Teenage Pregnancy In Africa

Haddijatou Kora

Instructor Dr. Andrea Trapp

Orientation to Honors 100-01 Media Analysis

13 February 2018

Teenage Pregnancy in Africa Teenage pregnancy remains an important and complex issue around the world, with reports indicating that Africa has higher rates than other continents. It serves as a major contributing factor to the poverty and the underdevelopment of Africa. Teenage pregnancy is broadly associated with poor educational standards, numerous health consequences, poverty, social and economic consequences. “The rate of teenage pregnancy varies between developed and developing countries. According to World Health Organization (WHO) report 8, the global teenage pregnancy rate was projected to be 54 births per 1000 women

In Africa, parents find it very difficult to educate their children about sex because of poor communication skills. There is a culture of silence amongst African parents when it comes to matters such as sex. They feel that talking to children about sex would lead to early experimentation or promiscuity. Therefore, they fail to talk about it. “Communication patterns in the family have also been hypothesized as contributing to teenage pregnancy. Anagnostara (1988) found that adolescents coming from families with closed patterns of communication (as reported by the adolescent) are more likely to have what she sees as attitudes conducive to early child-bearing than those coming from families with open communication patterns”(Macleod). Teenagers who are not educated about sex and its implications are more likely to get pregnant. Most teenagers do not understand the biological and emotional aspects associated with sex. Therefore, most teenagers find it difficult to reject an individual that have a sexual feeling towards them. Despite the fact that there are so many birth control methods available, yet still African teenagers have no knowledge of how to use them. They have no clue about safe sex and how it can prevent one from getting pregnant and from being exposed to sexually transmitted

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Macleod, Catriona. "The 'Causes' of Teenage Pregnancy: Review of South African Research--Part 2." South African Journal of Psychology, vol. 29, no. 1, Mar. 1999, p. 8. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=1920767&site=ehost -live. Accessed 28 November 2017.

Odejimi, Opeyemi and Denise Bellingham-Young. "A Policy Pathway to Reducing Teenage Pregnancy in Africa." Revista Brasileira De Crescimento E Desenvolvimento Humano, vol. 24, no. 2, Apr. 2014, pp. 135-141. EBSCOhost, ezproxy1.cincinnatistate.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.as px?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=98392016. Accessed 28 November 2017.

Soubhagya, Talawar and Venkatesh G.“Outcome of Teenage Pregnancy” IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences (IOSR-JDMS) e-ISSN: 2279-0853, p-ISSN: 2279-0861. Volume 6, Issue 6 (May.- Jun. 2013), PP 81-83 www.iosrjournals.org Accessed 28 November