Teenage pregnancies: Blame rise on media pressure – GES

Aside from curiosity and peer pressure, the Ashanti Regional Girl Child Coordinator of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Hannah Amponsah has made known pressure from the media is a leading cause of teenage pregnancy in present-day Ghana.

With sexually explicit content being readily available to teens via the media (traditional and digital), Hannah argues this peaks the curiosity of teens and sees them engaging in sexually related activities at a young age.

“Television and social media content teens are exposed to now can be said to have increased the incidence of teenage pregnancies in the country. They are now exposed to nudity and unhealthy sexual materials”, he told Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show.

57,000 teenage pregnancies recorded in first half of 2017 - Graphic Online

Data from the Ghana Health Service (GHS), District Health Information Management System indicates Ghana recorded about 110,000 cases of teenage pregnancy in 2020 alone. Out of the number, 107,023 girls were between 15 and 19 years whilst 2,856 of the girls were between 10 and 14 years.

Explaining the high numbers amongst adolescent pregnancies with reference to the number above, Hannah argues the number of pregnancies recorded amongst Upper Primary and Junior High students “are because of late enrolment”.

Adding the effects of teenage age pregnancy on both the child and parent, the Ashanti Regional Girl Child coordinator stated, “These teen mothers suffer some health implications. It is quiet difficult for mothers their age to cater for children because they are not matured and this can affect the social well-being of the child”.

She entreated all stakeholders to join in the fight to curb the high incidence of teenage pregnancy. “If we don’t do that, the children of these teens and the nation will suffer.

Over the years, Ghana has recorded numerous incidents of nudity and high sexual content in the media space. Although authorities have taken active steps to deal with this trend, social media has worsened the situation.

Now, individuals of all ages are exposed to an unending number of sexual content on a daily basis and this is eroding morality in the country.