Baby Booming

Yesterday evening, as I was sitting in a classroom waiting for Mr. Kabutey so that we could begin our training session, I remembered something that he said back in the fall.  When I had just arrived, I engaged in many a discussion with him about education in Ghana, the students at Manye, and the challenges that they face.  One thing that struck me as odd was his view of female education.  I distinctly remember him saying, “We need them to stay in school.  We don’t want them to get pregnant.”  I remember thinking, “Wow. This man is so clearly from an older generation.  Girls don’t just get pregnant and stop going to school anymore.” …

Since my arrival at Manye, two female students have become pregnant and proceeded to drop out of school. Not out of high school. Out of junior high. One, out of JHS 1, the equivalent of 7^th grade. The other out of JHS 3 (9^th grade). Earlier this week I heard that another girl in JHS 1 has already had an abortion.  Even though they aren’t exactly legal. Three girls, out of 25. That’s a lot.

And to be honest, for the life of me, I don’t think I can explain to you why this rate is so high.  Sexual education in Ghana is undoubtedly more comprehensive than in the United States. (Disclaimer, my experience with sex ed was entirely at a public school in Georgia, meaning all we covered was puberty, its accompanying physical changes, and STIs).  Students here not only cover the topics above, but also prostitution (this one comes up a lot), wet dreams, condoms and their effectiveness in preventing AIDS and other STIs. Even older men taking advantage of younger girls and the importance of not listening to those creeps (creeps is my word).  And this is just what I’ve observed.

At the same time, premarital sex is highly condemned. And girls in junior high and high school are told by society that they shouldn’t have boyfriends, that they should just be thinking about school, their education and God. Students can get in trouble at school if a teacher or headmaster finds out that they have a boyfriend. Or if they find out that they are even flirting with boys.

Well, clearly, they’re still having sex. It makes me wonder – by condemning romantic activity at all, do girls (and guys) fail to see the difference between kissing and going much farther?  Is it the mentality that, “I’m not supposed to kiss, but since I have, I might as well have sex?” And even I want to accept sex as normal 13-year-old behavior (which I’m not sure I’m ready to do), is its social taboo preventing the participants from buying condoms? From what I’ve observed, most of these oh-so-young girls are not engaging in this behavior with their peers --the guys are usually older. Does this age difference create a harmful power dynamic that prevents girls from making demands (like condom use)? Does law and religion prevent girls from choosing to get an abortion if they have the means?

Whatever the reason that these girls end up accidentally pregnant, I think it sucks. I think it sucks that the rest of their lives will be affected by this one event. That their education is cut short by their personal life. That their job opportunities are limited from stopping school.  That their self-esteem is rattled by the community’s censure. It sucks that I hear the young women labeled as “bad girls” – when their male counterparts are pointedly ignored.  It even sucks that it took me 6 months to realize how bad the situation is, to get worked up enough to blog about it. In fact, I don’t think there’s a single thing about it that doesn’t suck.