ABSTRACT: This research work was carried out to find out the impact of teenage pregnancy on academic performance among secondary school girls in Oruk Anam Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. Three research questions were generated to correspond with the research hypotheses formulated for the study. Chapter Two focused on the review of related literature which gave the researcher insights to the issues that often arise in teenage girl, who supposed to be in school, gets pregnant. More so, the hypotheses of the study are also found here. Chapter three encapsulated the methodology which has to do with the research design, sample population and sample technique, study area population of study, instrumentation, validation and reliability of instrument, procedure for data’ collection and data analysis.
The questionnaires were also constructed in this chapter as an instrument used for data, collection. It was constructed by the researcher under the supervisors guide and given to 150 respondents. The questionnaires were successfully administered. Chapter four described, the data 60 collected, which is analyzed with the use of tables and values. The hypotheses’ earlier stated were tested with the use of tables, the Chi-square (x2) statistical techniques’ and 0.05 level of significance was used with critical values and degree of freedom as 2 to ascertain whether to accept or reject them. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations and suggestions for further studies were made.
The Impact of Teenage Pregnancy on Academic Performance
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
In a society where living is increasing, being characterized by a wide range of choices, as well as articulated response to these choices has become very necessary. This is most important because the choice made by various individuals have individual and collective effects or consequences on the society. No group is endangered by such choices as the teenagers or adolescents in our society International Planned Parent Federation (IPPF) reports on young people’s sexual and reproductive health (1994) defined adolescence as “the period of transition from childhood to adulthood”. This period is also known as puberty. According to issue in brie (1991) using the age bracket of 1O -19 for adolescents. It maintained that “there were 1.1 billion of such people in 1995 with 913 billion living in developing countries as against 160 million living in under developed countries.
In sub-Sahara Africa, the picture is bleaker. As at 1997, Issues in Brief further revealed that the population of Nigerians aged between 10 and 19 was over 26 million, representing 23% of the entire population. Researchers
have shown that adolescents are exposed to several critical
choices which have exposed them to a variety of consequences. One of such choices is the strong desire to explore and experiment the world around them. Such exploration holds specific implications for the adolescent child. If the child is being exposed to sexual activity at such a tender age due to either early marriage or early sexual experience, the consequences of this action are varied. One of such consequences is early child bearing.
The Alan Gutlmacher Institutes publication (1996) argues that the choices adolescents make will strongly affect their educational attainment and employment opportunities. The truth is that whatever the choices made by adolescents, the resultant consequence will affect the future and that of the society in general. Based on this premise, this study aims at revealing the effect of adolescent’s pregnancy and their academic achievement in the society.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Of recent, there have been many attempts made to understudy and understand the reproductive health behavior of women especially that of the adolescents: Adolescence is the period when young people begin to undergo various biological, physical and emotional changes. This period of changes is known as puberty. Puberty brings on the bodily changes that mark the beginning of growing up sexually (GPI 2005). It is that period that young people feel insecure and as such they tend to experiment a lot in order to explore beyond their limits. Sexual activity among young people in Nigeria is said to high and rising each passing day (Adolescent productive Behaviour In Nigeria 1991).
Knowledge of contraceptive is fragmental and the practice is not wide spread nation wide. However 5.9% of 15–19 year old females use contraceptives (Nigeria Democratic Health Talk survey 1992). While some young people have some awareness of the subject, their detailed knowledge is inaccurate and their attitudes towards using contraceptives are often ambivalent.
This is because they see contraceptives: as actively harmful and a waste of time. Many find the post as being exorbitant and as such do not bother their heals about them. The consequences of unprotected sexual activities among adolescents are numerous: These include sexually transmitted disease (STDs) like gonorrhea, syphilis, Chlamydia, herpes, genital warts, pubic lice, scabies etc, and HIV/AIDS of which AIDS is most deadly. Other consequences are unwanted pregnancy resulting in unwanted babies as well as induced abortion.
The Impact of Teenage Pregnancy on Academic Performance
The incidence of pregnancy among young adolescents’ girls is high and may be on the increase among young women in their early teens with 905,000 births recorded among adolescents girls annually (Health reports further show that 60% of the patients in the gynecological emergency consultation room of Nigerian hospitals are adolescents with abortion related cases. It has been noted that induced abortion and treatment of STDs are not seldom performed by qualified doctors but rather by incompetent practitioners under poor and unhygienic conditions. Post abortion care and medical attention is always poor, leading to reproductive problems such as inflammatory infections, infertility and social stigmatization. All these pose a lot of negative effects on the adolescent child, and as such affect her academic Performance, as academic needs concentration and time.
