Background
Methods
Study design
Data collection
Data analysis
Age | No. Per Age | Grade | No. Per Grade | Married |
---|---|---|---|---|
16 years | 03 | 8 | 03 | |
17 years | 10 | 9 | 11 | |
18 years | 08 | 10 | 05 | |
19 years | 03 | 11 | 03 | |
12 | 02 | 02 |
Major themes | Sub- themes |
---|---|
School- related challenges | Experience with teachers • Disapproving remarks by teachers • Teachers reminding the girls about their past • Lack of support from teachers • Mockery from the teachers Experience with pupils • Stigmatization • Isolation and rejection • Gossip from fellow pupils |
Community-related challenges | • Multiple roles • Relationship with the community • Community fearing that girls will teach others immoral issues • Social insecurity |
Family related challenges | • Support from home • Parenting and schooling • Forced early marriages • Labelling as deviances |
Coping of young mothers | Behavioral Change • Skipping school days • Substance abuse • Staying away from home • Resilience • Spiritual Intervention |
Ethics approval
Results
Attitude of teachers toward teen mothers
“Teachers have never assisted me with extra lessons every time I miss the lessons to attend to my child when she is sick. They would tell me to ask my classmates to assist me with the missed lessons, but I used to feel shy to ask my friends… so that’s how I just stopped and forgot about it.” (18 years grade 12 pupil).
“Teachers would want to be paid for teaching extra lessons even if you had a genuine reason for not coming to school…I saw it from my Mathematics teacher the very first time I came back from maternity leave. I wanted some extra lessons on “Time calculation” then he told me that it was K100 per session. That is how I just stopped because I had no money to pay him.”(19 years, grade 12 pupils).
Mockery
…“Some teachers would mention sensitive issues such as going for VCT, they may be saying it in good faith as an advice; but what hurt me most, was the way they would openly say it in class, though he didn’t mention my name, but my friends would laugh while looking at me…because one day he passed a bad comment when he saw me wearing a T-shirt written [Fridays uniform] “Virgin Power Virgin Pride”.” (18 years grade 12 pupil).
Lack of shame
“Some teachers liked saying that I was stubborn because I came back to school after giving birth without feeling shy and pretending that all was well. They told me that I am a disgrace because I was degrading the standards of the school.” (19 years grade 12 pupil).
Stigmatization by fellow pupils
“Some of the girls in class would tease me…saying that the school was encouraging immorality by allowing mothers to continue with school when they are supposed to be home looking after their babies. What hurt me most was that the ones who liked saying that were my best friends whom I used to play with before I got pregnant. But now they would tell me that I have lost my integrity by breaking my virginity. My former best friend was the one in the forefront of saying that I have lost my virginity.” (17 years old, grade 9 pupil).
“Some learners talk carelessly and even make up stories about me and my baby. One girl was telling others in class about the father of my baby, that he is a sugar daddy and that my child is ugly. The moment they saw me, they laughed and changed the story. I felt bad and wanted to beat her up. Then I thought of the punishment I was going to get for fighting in school.” (16 years grade 8 pupil).
Community fearing that young mothers will teach other girls bad morals
“My aunty chased me when she discovered that I was pregnant…the people in the same compound used to say a lot of bad things about me because I continued going to school before I gave birth. Some community members would even pass bad comments that I would influence other girls with immoral activities.” (17 years grade 9 pupil).
Lack of family support
… “I feel victimized by my husband because sometimes you find that I want to start off for school then he would want to sleep with me [having sex]. I have lost weight because I have to do all the house chores, taking care of the baby and studying…I get so tired that most of the times I doze in class. I am not at peace. Sometimes even if I tell him that I am sick, he would want to have sex”. (19 years grade 12 married pupil).
“My family have been insisting that I get married. The family to the baby’s father did not want me to get married into their family. It has really been a challenge because some are forcing me to get married; the other side was telling me that I can’t get married to their son…that is how I even started selling homemade cobra so that I pay for my school because I didn’t want to stop school because of my husband”. (18 years grade 11 pupil).
Staying away from home
“From the time I got pregnant my parents have had no kind words with me such that when I knock off from school I would rather be with my friends for a while than going home…sometimes I never used to go home from school and they would not care…so my elder sister would take care of the baby. It was difficult to stay at home because of the way they treat me, I felt bad … My mother would always force me to call the father of my child and ask him to bring money. But each time I called him, he would ask for sex, so I was scared to tell my mother” (17 years grade 9 pupil).
Consequences of the adolescent mothers’ experiences
Resilience
“I tried not to pay attention to what others were saying because if I paid attention I would have stopped school. I know that in the end, I am going to live a better life with my child through education. I pretended as if there was nothing wrong and concentrate on my books because if I had concentrated on what they were saying I would have stopped school.” (18 years grade 11 pupil).
Skipping some days at school
“I would stay away from school just to avoid hearing bad comments from the teachers and my classmates especially the experience of having breast milk coming out...I would dodge at break time …” (17 years grade 9 pupil).
Beer drinking
“I really didn’t know what to do the time I discovered I was pregnant…all I wanted that time was chibuku [local bulky beer]. It has helped me up to now to remove stress, people can talk…this time I don’t care whatever they say. It (alcohol) has helped me…Without this, maybe I would have had drunk poison.” (18 years grade 10 pupil).
Isolation and rejection
“All my friends that I used to play with before I became pregnant had distanced themselves from me….I tried to follow them one time during break, but the way they behaved towards me when I joined them was not good because they all laughed and left me alone…that is how I stopped following them.” (17 years old grade 10 pupil).