Early pregnancy among school going children is on the rise. This was evident during the just completed Kenya Certificate of Primary Education(KCPE) 2018. It has forced the Education Cabinet Secretary Amb. Amina Mohamed to form a committee to look into the matter.
As a primary school teacher, I looked into the matter and considered some causes of early pregnancy among young girls. Here are some of the causes of this public menace escalating in our country Kenya;
1. Poor Parenting
Most parents have become too busy to care for their children. Many parents don't get enough time to teach their children the moral values they were taught when growing up. This has made children lose important moral values such as respect, honesty etc. Some parents also do not respect their children and do nasty things like having sex when children are watching. This gives children curiosity to try what they see their parents doing since children learn more by seeing in a monkey see monkey do and also children believe that what parents do is right.
2. Internet
Many children nowadays have access to the internet and television, therefore, see many adult explicit videos they should not be exposed to. Many tv programmes also are responsible for immoral behaviour among children. Parents should guide their children on what to access through phones and what to watch on televisions like learning programmes.
3. Lack of discipline
"Digital children" as they call themselves have lacked discipline both at home and in school. This is mostly due to the lack of punishments in school which was abolished by the government. Parents should take the initiative of instilling discipline to their children for them to grow morally upright.
4. The public
This has to do with how grown up adults behave in public places. Displaying immorality in public has an impact on children who copy what their seniors are doing. The general public should take the initiative of being good mentors to our young girls and boys other than being predators.
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