Too young to bear

Today, Mother's Day, as we cherish the love of that most important woman in our lives, let us also spare a thought for those mums who are far from ready for motherhood – teenagers.

Thailand cannot claim any success in preventing teen pregnancy with statistics compiled by the Public Health Ministry revealing that an abysmal 53.8 out of every 1,000 girls become pregnant while still at school. Figures for 2012 show that the rate of pregnancies among 15- to 19-year-olds stood at 131,400, significantly higher than our neighbours.

So what happens to these teen mums and mums-to-be? Surveys show that a pregnant teen will almost certainly quit school, be abandoned by the father and assuming that she doesn’t opt for an illegal abortion, her baby will grow up unwanted. 

Nualphan Lamsam, head of the Stop Teen Mom campaign supported by the Sai Yai Rak royal project under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Srirasm, points out that society remains surprisingly ignorant of the negative consequences, both social and economic, of teenage pregnancies.

“We must wake up and recognise that unplanned pregnancy in young girls doesn’t only have serious consequences for their lives but also the lives of the babies. A teenage mother is inexperienced and she can’t take care of the baby. In some cases, she might not be physically ready for childbirth and that may lead to her baby suffering disabilities,” she says.

Factors leading to pregnancy among adolescents are complex and inter-related with such aspects as education, social and financial status, family and community norms and pressures all somehow encouraging teens to agree to unsafe sex. But changes can only come through cooperation and consistency in the work of all parties involved, especially from government and the media.

Last year’s hit cable-TV drama “Hormones”, shed an interesting and true light on teen behaviour, especially sex in school, and led to a great amount of social debate. Sadly though, the majority saw the adolescents as the problem and failed to address the underlying causes, such as social conditions, values no longer shared by young people with regard to virginity and premarital sex, and the failure of parents, teachers, and health providers. 

With the show now back for a second season on the GMM One channel, director Kriangkrai Vachiratamporn, director says he would be delighted if the drama stopped just one case of teenage pregnancy.

The show, he adds, aims to create an open society in which parents, teachers, academics and health providers discuss this social issue, become aware of the problems teenagers typically face when they are in a relationship and empower the young to make responsible decisions. 

“Even today Thais are shy talking about sexuality. So when young people have problems, they seek advice from friends or the Internet, often with disastrous consequences. We are concerned about this issue and want to communicate through the experiences of the characters the real nature of teen relationships and the result of sexual behaviour so that they will use good judgement in their own lives. While the show is on air, we monitor the social media and tweet messages that help them to learn from the show,” he says.

“We also encourage those close to teenagers, such as parents or teachers, to watch the show and be open-minded and supportive with teachings and suggestions. Sex education is taught in Thai schools by rote, which doesn’t help anyone. We have developed important lessons reflecting sex education through the experiences of the characters. 

“Teen pregnancy should be stopped,” he adds. “Kids today think that having sex just one time isn’t going to lead to pregnancy but this is not the case. Young people should use their good sense to control the situation and to be responsible.”

Caspar Peek, Thailand representative for the United Nations Population Fund, comments that few young people receive adequate preparation for their sexual lives, and especially in Thailand where sex education is not mandatory in schools.

“The school certainly plays a big role in providing sex education and a safe environment. The subject is touched upon in biology or health education classes but that’s no good. Providing information must start when kids are as young as 12. It is the parent’s duty to teach children and it’s important that they take time to talk to their kids about sex long before they are sexually active. Providing sex education in a youth-friendly way can change a lot of teenage behaviour and young people must have access to the means to protect themselves too,” he says. 

“If a boy goes to buy condom in a convenience store upcountry, the chances are the person behind the counter know his parents and so he won’t buy one. And if a mother finds a condom in her daughter’s pocket, she is likely to blow up at the girl. To me, it means that’s she is a very responsible girl,” Peek says.

“For the past 30 or 40 years, parents in Western countries have accepted that young people are sexually active and while they don’t try and stop them, they do tell them to be responsible. Parents say ‘don’t come home pregnant’ or ‘make sure you do not get infected with sexually transmitted diseases or HIV’. It’s not true that giving information about sex makes a child become sexually active. It doesn’t happen like that. They are already curious about sex. Using the short space that we have when children are say 12 or 13 means that when the time comes and they are ready for it, they will remember some of the lessons,” he adds. 

The Stop Teen Mom campaign has much the same philosophy, says Nualphan, herself the mother of a teenage daughter and who has just been recognised with an honourable award for her parenting skills. 

“Thai society must be more open-minded about sex education and for this reason, we have created a school network across the country. We now have 65 schools taking part in the campaign and aim to add 70 more by the end of the year. The campaign has been well received,” she says.

Many schools have set up Stop Teen Mums club and host regular activities to create awareness of the problem.”

“When teens come across problems and want advice, they should browse our website rather than trying to find out on their own. We have prepared a lot of information and case studies, and we have experts who will happy to provide advice. The service is entirely confidential and I guarantee that every question will be answered,” she says.

 

On the Web:

www.StopTeenMom.com