BAGUIO CITY – The education department has never been remiss in the implementation of the needed interventions to help reduce the alarming increase in teenage pregnancy among teenagers not only in the city but in the whole region as well.
City Schools Division medical officer Dr. Jocelyn de Jesus said that based on studies conducted not only by the agencies but also non-government organizations involved in adolescent reproductive health, those who have history of teenage pregnancy are those who have problems inside their families.
She added that based on interviews conducted by experts on the female teenagers who become pregnant, they actually know the implication of their actions as they claim they are only looking for parental attention which they could not find in their homes so they resort to seeking the companionship of others to the extent of being involved in premarital sex that result to unwanted pregnancy at a young age.
“If we conduct lectures on sexuality education, we observed that our students listen intently to what we are teaching them and we are also surprised to know that they know better than us in most instances, thus, it is not fair to conclude that the education department failed in equipping our youth with the knowledge on how to avoid teenage pregnancy,” de Jesus stressed.
The medical officer stated that it is unfortunate that the region and the city registered the highest number of teenage pregnancy cases in recent studies but it should not be attributed to the failure of educators to teach the teenagers sexuality education but all factors should be taken into consideration for the public to better appreciate the situation in the region and in the city in terms of teenage pregnancy.
De Jesus disclosed that numerous interventions and programs have been put in place not only in the schools division level but also in the schools to expand the coverage of the activities primarily to help in educating students in the critical age level not to be actively involved in premarital sex and for them to embrace other productive activities that will keep them busy away from peers who influence them to be engaged in premarital sex as a means to address their depressions.
According to her, it is surprising that teenagers nowadays know better than adults in terms of interventions that need to be done to prevent teenage pregnancy but what is also alarming is the increasing number of the youth who are documented to having been pregnant at a young age.
Based on previous young adults reproductive survey done in the whole country, the Cordillera recorded the highest number of teenage pregnancy cases which caused alarm among parents and educators on how to implement strategies to prevent the continuous increase in similar cases among the youth in the coming years.
De Jesus claimed the education department continues to engage non-government organizations involved in adolescent reproductive health in the crafting of proactive interventions that will help in addressing the serious problem of today’s youth to ensure that they will be able to succeed in their growth as responsible and dedicated citizens of the city.
By Dexter A. See
