Parental guidance and teenage pregnancy in the Buea municipality

Abstract

This work is based on parental guidance and teenage pregnancies. In regards to the findings, it was realized that most (55%) of parental guidance is the cause of teenage pregnancies especially when parents don’t do their responsibilities by putting teenager on the right track.

Also, a good number (47%) of respondents affirm the fact that advising teens not to engage in premarital sex is one of the styles of parental guidance, followed by 33% who supported that restricting teens from bad friends is a good way of parental guidance.  

It was also depicted that most (38%) of respondents strongly agree to the fact that poor parental guidance influence teenage pregnancies as they engage in an unhealthy relationship, followed by 27% who agree to it. There was also the affirmation that 25% of teenagers get involved in sex and eventually get pregnant due to lack of a proper parental guide, followed by 20% who strongly agree to this fact.

The majority (33%) of respondents equally agreed that teenagers are more likely to have sex when parents fail to guide them at home followed by 27% who strongly agreed to it.

Looking at the measures to limit teenage pregnancies in the Buea Municipality, it was realized that: the majority (43%) of teenagers could be restricted from unhealthy friends as a means of coping with teenage pregnancies, followed by 30% who indicated that strict parental guidance rule is implemented.

Also, most (40%) of respondents strongly agreed to the fact that bringing up teenagers by parents in the way of Christ will help prevent teenage pregnancies, followed by 34% who agree to it.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

                Teenage  pregnancy   has  become  a   growing   concern   and  therefore  various  causes  of  teenage  pregnancy  had  become  identified. Teenage  pregnancy  refers  to    pregnancy  that   occurs  in  young   girls, in  the  age  range  of  13years  to   19years  old. According  to  Jackie  [2012]  low  self-esteem  is  among  the  causes  of  teenage  pregnancies. Children  who  are  not  shown  love  and affection  from  their  parents  will seek  it  out  with  their peer  group. Many adolescent   reports  shows  that  other  teens  have  pressure  from  their  peers  to  have  sex  before  they  are  married. The  transition  from  childhood  to  adolescent  may  cause  unstable  emotions  to  some  teenagers, and this may  cause  complex  psychological  breakdown  can  result  in  immature  and  irresponsible  behavior  which  in  turn  may  be  another  cause  of teenage  pregnancy. According  to  Count [2010] adolescent  or  teenagers  mark  the  onset  of  sexual  maturity. It  is a  period  of  time  for  them to  show interest to  the  opposite  sex  and  curiosity  about  much  topics  of sex.

            In   addition to, parental   guidance has a very important role to play in the act y67of teenage pregnancy. Parental  guidance   is  the  act  of  parents  guiding  their  child  by  explaining  the  reasons, pros  and  cons  of  their  action  and  decisions. No enforcement is involved. This  because  parents  are  powerful  and  can  use  this  in  directing  their  children. Like the different parenting styles, through those styles we all can see  that  the  ways  in  which  parents  control  their  children  will  show  their  relationship  which  leads to  teenage  pregnancy. Like  for  an  example; the laser-faire  parenting  style  also  shows  that  parents  who   are  seen  to  act  in  this way  and   do  not  care  about  what or  their children  do  or  go, and thus would make  the teens  engage in  acts  which  not  sexually   fit  for  them. In other  words ,some  parents feel  that  giving  their  teenagers  sex  education  at  an  early  age  is  not  proper, thereby  living  the  children  at  the  mercy of  other  teenagers  to  advice  them. Parents  who  live  the  teaching  of  sex education  and  morals  to  the  teachers  in  the  teenagers  school  which  is not  a good  idea.

                Also, another   parenting style  called  the  authoritarian  laser-faire  parenting  style ,is   the   best  one  of all  because the  parent  guide  the children  and  educate  them  on   various  steps  in life  and  most importantly  about  the sexual  life. This  style helps  the  parent and  he  child  to be open  with each  other thereby leading  to  the  parent-  child  connectedness. Which  can  be defined  as  the  degree of  closeness  or  warmth  experienced  in  the  relationship  that  children  have  with their  parents. Research  has  shown  that , how  children  perceive  the  connection  with  their  parents  seems  to  be more   important  than  how  parents  reports  or  perceives  the  level  of connection.

                    The  concept  of  parent –child  connectedness, takes  a   traditional  parent  child  communication  strategies  a step  further. Although parent-child  communication is  certainly a part of  connection ,it  is  not  only  the  factor  that  support  closeness  in  a relationship. In fact, in  the  recently  released report  titled <MOTHERS> influence  on  teen  sex : Connections that promote  postponing  sexual  intercourse,[Blum  2002],the  author states, <Simply  encouraging  parents  to  talk  more  to  their teens  about  the  risk  of  early  sex  without  being  more  involved  in  their  lives  is  unlikely  to  have  much  impact.

Problem Statement

        Much   research   has been done ,factors  that  predispose  girls  to  falling  pregnant in  their   adolescent  years [Furstenberg  Brooks-Gunn  and  Morgan,1987; Dryfoos,1990]. Researchers  have   found  a  number  of  persona, family  and  social  factors, which  are  often associated  with  teenage  pregnancy [Dryfoos , 1990]. The  high  incidence  of  teenage  pregnancy  has  become  a  major  societal  and  educational    concern, as it  seems  to  perpetuate  poverty  and  low  levels  of  education.

  Consequently ,my  main  aim  on  this  research  is  to  find  out  if  or  not  parental  guidance  is  also  responsible  for  teenage  pregnancy, and  also  how  important  or  relevant   is  parental  guidance  towards  teenage  pregnancy.

Objectives Of the Study

• To find out  if  parental  guidance  is  important in  the  life  of  an 
• To show also how parental guidance can help avoid teenage pregnancy.
• To see the  relationship  between  parental  guidance  towards  teenage 
• To also show how parental guidance can help prevent teenage pregnancy.

Research Question

• Is parental guidance the cause of many teenage pregnancies today?
• How does the different parenting style influence parental guidance?
• Is parental guidance solely because of parental guidance?
• Is parental guidance important in a teenager’s life?