Consequences of early sex : Education is key
As I waited patiently to conduct an interview at the Reproductive Health Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, I engaged one of the nurses in a casual conversation.
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I wanted to know if many young people patronised the centre’s services and if teen pregnancy cases were increasing.
The expression on her face was that of concern, especially about teenage pregnancy.
“Just the other day, a mother came here with her 13-year-old daughter who was seven months pregnant. The mother wanted to know what could be done,” the nurse narrated. “It’s a serious issue and parents need to show more interest in their children’s activities,” she said.
Teenage pregnancy on the increase
The increase in cases of teenage pregnancy in the country is not new. Last year, female parliamentarians were alarmed when statistics from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) revealed that 750,000 teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 became pregnant in 2014, with the Central Region recording the highest number.
Another story that made the headlines was that 54 students between 14 and 19 years tested positive for HIV in the Tema metropolis between January and September last year. Thirteen others, aged between 13 and 19, also tested positive for other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and were counselled and given treatment.
The February 24, 2016 issue of the Daily Graphic reported that the Kumasi metropolis had, for the past two years, recorded an increase in adolescent pregnancy.
The report said, “records from the health facilities in the metropolis indicate that 70 per cent of these adolescents are students aged 15 and 19”.
In 2015, the Greater Accra Region recorded a total of 10,000 teenage pregnancy cases.
"The sad thing is that we have children as young as 10 to 14 years also becoming pregnant and though we see a reduction, it is still not acceptable," said the Regional Director of Health, Dr Linda Van Otoo, at the region’s annual health review meeting.
This notwithstanding, a report on a local FM station said some female Junior High School (JHS) students of Ahwiam Basic School in the Ningo Prampram District of the Greater Accra Region were trading their womanhood for fish due to hunger.
The students, some of whom are expected to sit for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) said they got themselves in that situation because their parents failed to cater for them.
Obviously, these are very disturbing statistics, particularly because of the fact that young people, who all parents expect would abstain from sex, are actually indulging in it.
Parents and sex education
The bane of the problem is that most parents shy away from educating their children on sex. Interestingly, the experts say as awkward as it may be, sex education is a parent's responsibility.
“By reinforcing and supplementing what your teen learns in school, you can set the stage for a lifetime of healthy sexuality,” they stated.
The Executive Director of Child Rights International, Mr Bright Appiah, notes that sex is part of human life and the development process. Therefore, he said, over time children would acknowledge that sex was part of them, hence the need to demystify it.
He said due to the country’s cultural setting where sex is shrouded in secrecy, it was difficult for parents to talk about sex with their children so they grow up having no knowledge about sex and the implications of indulging in it.
What was important, he said was for children to have knowledge about that component of life and its usage which will be beneficial to them.
“What society has to do is to provide them with the basic education that they need in relation to sex and how to apply that knowledge in order to serve their interest”.
It is Mr Appiah’s view that sex education should start when a child begins to acknowledge the existence of society, adding that there was the need to serialise sex education so that children would be taught what would be relevant to them at a particular age.
An Obstetrician Gynaecologist at the Reproductive Health Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Emmanuel Ameh, shares Mr Appiah’s views.
Dr Ameh said it was important for parents to initiate early sexual communication with their children at an early age.
“The responsibility of talking to children about sex issues lies with parents and studies have shown that children prefer to have their sexual communication with their parents. Adolescents who have this communication early with their parents are less likely to engage in high-risk sex which can lead to unintended pregnancies,” he added.
He advised that parents created an environment to foster such discussions, be honest and frank with their children.
According to him, “during such discussions, honesty is important to make children take such advice seriously”.
He said in situations where parents were unable to answer some of the sexual and reproductive health questions, they could always seek advice from professionals.
“Unfortunately, when parents fail to educate their children early on sex, teens tend to seek this information from their peers who may misinform them,” he pointed out.
Very often, people think it is the child who engages in illicit sexual activities who ends up worst affected.
Consequences and interventions
The consequences of teenage pregnancy, more often than not, are many and undesirable – school dropout, the country is robbed of potential leaders, psychological and health implications and stigmatisation.
It is for some of these reasons that Dr Ameh pointed out that apart from parents, teachers also have a part to play.
He said it was also important for the school curriculum to have dedicated sessions for sexual and reproductive health issues, so that students would be taught life-saving skills to enable them to abstain from sex at early ages or negotiate for safe sex.
When asked what was being done to address adolescent health issues, including teen pregnancies, Dr Ameh said the GHS, through the Adolescent Health and Development Programme and in collaboration with the GES, had come up with programmes to meet the peculiar health needs of young people.
He said training had been offered to many more people, including teachers, on sexual and reproductive health issues; the formation of adolescent health clubs in schools, the provision of adolescent corners in health facilities and communities where adolescents can walk in and obtain the right information needed.
Another part of the initiative is “You Only Live Once” (YOLO), a television series that addresses adolescent reproductive health issues in a plot that centres on the day-to-day challenges faced by young people, which was aired on GTV and TV3 in the last quarter of 2015.
The TV series had two segments — the serial drama and questions segment. YOLO also uses social media platforms and social groups to draw adolescents and young people into discussions.
However, the fact that many young people are getting pregnant and dropping out of school should be a major concern to all.
Clearly, adolescents need comprehensive education on sexual and reproductive health and the consequences of not abstaining from sex.
It is important that all teenagers are made to understand, through various communication channels — at home, in school, churches and recreational centres — that engaging in sex is adult behaviour and adolescents who ignore good counsel to indulge in sexual activities will, in the long run, mar their bright future.
Indeed, although abstinence remains the best way to prevent teenage pregnancy, it is a fact that there are many young people having sex (judging from the statistics on teenage pregnancy).
Therefore, the controversy or challenge has been whether to advise such people to use contraceptives or instead be “purged” from having sex.
This is a topic for another discussion.
Nonetheless, it is important for young people not to give in to peer pressure and learn to say NO to sex in order to live their dreams in future.
