Teenage pregnancy has been that heartache that has rendered many societies sleepless at night. In some societies especially in my part of the world, it the lion that devours the very dreams and wild aspirations of most young girls. Most societies consider these girls as deviants and as such can hardly be of any good to society.
Most of these girls suffer diverse harsh treatments from parents and guardians and the entire society.
Some are immediately deprived of their basic need such as food, clothing and shelter. I have seen girls thrown out of their homes by their parents and guardians to never return because of teenage pregnancy, they end up dropping out of school because they cannot stand the ridicule and stigmatization from their colleagues. These girls end up on the streets to toil in their conditions to fend for themselves and their babies when they finally put to bed by whichever means possible to them. But I ask is the rejection and hatred for these girls the best solution to this social canker?
How do we gain as a people when we choose to see them at the far end of our worlds and treat them as strangers?
I will tell you what, these girls are sometimes suffering for the things they had basically had no control of. How do we explain the broken homes they come from and therefore saw their peers as the best consultants in their times of needs? What happened to the poor girl who was molested and raped for reasons best known to whoever? Why point hands at the young girl who needed to get food for herself and other siblings and so indulged in premarital sex for money? And again how do we rub our minds around the poor orphan who was punished by a wicked guardian?
But after all of these, have ever paused to think of what comes of these girls even after birth? Do they cease to be mentally sound enough to go back to school and pursue their dreams? Show me a teenage mother and I will present you a teenage mother who has risen beyond societal constraints after birth to pursue her cause.
Do we throw away these potentials who happen to be here with us never by accidents? Let us with one voice echo the need to get these potentials tapped to the benefits of our societies. Let us move to look out for these girls and help them get back to those dreams and aspirations they hold dear, and get them back to school. Education they say is the mother of success for every society and as such in order to see the holistic developments we yearn for, we must bring these girls on board. And come to think of it, won't their experiences shared yield greater effects for the campaign against teenage pregnancy because these two are rather connected.
Join the Campaign team and let's go and find our girls. WE NEED THEM AS A PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY ARE PART OF US. Thanks to the likes of the Campaign for Female Education (Camfed) who have engined this campaign.
Most of these girls suffer diverse harsh treatments from parents and guardians and the entire society.
Some are immediately deprived of their basic need such as food, clothing and shelter. I have seen girls thrown out of their homes by their parents and guardians to never return because of teenage pregnancy, they end up dropping out of school because they cannot stand the ridicule and stigmatization from their colleagues. These girls end up on the streets to toil in their conditions to fend for themselves and their babies when they finally put to bed by whichever means possible to them. But I ask is the rejection and hatred for these girls the best solution to this social canker?
How do we gain as a people when we choose to see them at the far end of our worlds and treat them as strangers?
I will tell you what, these girls are sometimes suffering for the things they had basically had no control of. How do we explain the broken homes they come from and therefore saw their peers as the best consultants in their times of needs? What happened to the poor girl who was molested and raped for reasons best known to whoever? Why point hands at the young girl who needed to get food for herself and other siblings and so indulged in premarital sex for money? And again how do we rub our minds around the poor orphan who was punished by a wicked guardian?
But after all of these, have ever paused to think of what comes of these girls even after birth? Do they cease to be mentally sound enough to go back to school and pursue their dreams? Show me a teenage mother and I will present you a teenage mother who has risen beyond societal constraints after birth to pursue her cause.
Do we throw away these potentials who happen to be here with us never by accidents? Let us with one voice echo the need to get these potentials tapped to the benefits of our societies. Let us move to look out for these girls and help them get back to those dreams and aspirations they hold dear, and get them back to school. Education they say is the mother of success for every society and as such in order to see the holistic developments we yearn for, we must bring these girls on board. And come to think of it, won't their experiences shared yield greater effects for the campaign against teenage pregnancy because these two are rather connected.
Join the Campaign team and let's go and find our girls. WE NEED THEM AS A PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY ARE PART OF US. Thanks to the likes of the Campaign for Female Education (Camfed) who have engined this campaign.
Great piece. For Christ sake these teenage mothers possess great potentials that can be harnessed for the benefit of society.
ReplyDeleteSuch an insight! ! Thanks Miss Veronica for educating us... How I wish many can read this knowledgeable piece...I will join in "Finding our girls"...
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