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Perception of Early Parenthood among Secondary School Adolescent in Community Secondary in Otuoke Bayelsa State

Brucejaja Clariza Preston, Victor Torubeli Ph.D, Adamolekun Patience Arinola, Ajie Catherine Chika, Azumah, Mercy Kelechi, Albert-Ivovo Joyful, Ifedayo Oluwanifemi Ruth

Abstract


This research work examined perception of early parenthood among secondary school adolescent in community secondary in Otuoke, Bayelsa State. The study indicated that adolescents are less cognitively equipped to engage in new-born care, suffer more stress in parenting, and are less adaptive in their parenting style when compared to adult mothers.. Adolescent pregnancy has several detrimental effects for both adolescent mothers and fathers such as increased chances of dropping out of school, increased risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), mental health problems and economic family burden. Adolescent moms are more likely to drop out of school. The descriptive survey research design was used for this study. The population of the study comprised of seven hundred and seventeen (717) students in community secondary school Otuoke, Bayelsa State. The study employed the stratified random sampling technique in coming up with a sample of 156 respondents which is 21.8% of the total 717 respondents population. The instrument used for the study was twenty items on “perception of early parenthood among secondary school adolescents questionnaire”. To ensure the validity of the instrument, the initial draft of the instrument was subjected to face validation. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation coefficient analysis was used to determine the internal consistency coefficient of the instrument. Result of the data analysis gave Alpha coefficient value of 0.7 for the instrument. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 20.0) program and Excel Version 2010. Regression analysis was used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypothesis. The result of the study revealed that factors such as limited or no guidance, broken homes, peer pressure contributes to early parenthood among secondary school students in community secondary school Otuoke, Bayelsa State. The study suggests that adolescent pregnancy contributes to high dropout rates among female adolescent students in primary and secondary education. This was aggravated by policies, and the majority of pregnant young girls were rejected by their families, forcing them to live with the men who impregnated them or the impregnator's family/relatives. The study recommends that policy makers should insist that the news and entertainment media provide more responsible coverage and treatment of sexual behaviour.


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