The stats are startling, 161317 reported school going teenage girls pregnant, some of them under the age of thirteen, all during a period when we should be practicing social distancing, wearing masks and quarantining. This has taken place during this COVID period, the last three months, in our homes, right under our noses. If the report is true, fellow parents, we need to have a conversation.
Let’s begin by appreciating our teachers. If you know of any, please hug them. It’s clear that we’re not as good in managing our teenagers as they are. Teachers and schools administrators get blamed for all teenage pregnancies in this country, most times anyway, some very harshly. They must feel relieved. So next time you and I are summoned to school to discuss some teenage pregnancy observation? Let’s drop this almighty high holier than thou attitude against teachers, and let’s cooperate. We have massive weapons of mass destruction between the legs of our teenagers, they are alive and kicking, and doing a lot of damage and destruction. The dicks and nunus are no longer little, they’ve morphed, they’re volatile, volcanic, vibrating and erupting.
Secondly, we as fathers must demand more out of our sons. We used to hide under the guise if being too busy. Covid gave us a lifeline, to observe, bond, teach and model some responsibility. I hope we have. As a bare minimum, we need to demand that our sons will raise the children they sire out there, the way we’re feeding, sheltering, educating and clothing them. That’s the least we can do for our grandkids. There’s no voice greater in a teenage son’s life than that of the father. We must not neglect, transfer or delegate this divine and noble calling of fatherhood.
Third. Mothers (and fathers let’s join), please whisper to our daughters, that boys and men don’t ejaculate soda. If we found out the hard way, the more reason we should repeat it until it sinks home. Some of life’s greatest lessons are handed out over our missteps.
Fourth, we need to have common sense basic sex education. Our kids don’t give a damn about abstinence. They think that’s outdated, and weird. They live in a generation that has glorified sex, made it cheap, massly and massively available, as easy as sending and receiving a text. It’s their world, our world. Recall the kasong “nikikupatia utawezana”? (If I dish it, will you bang it)? That’s the world we live in. They don’t even use protection. HIV is for a gone generation, never mind that it is still spreading fastest among this segment of the population. Gently but firmly, let’s remind them that sex has consequences, like teen pregnancy and fatherhood, dented and detracted life trajectories, abortions, STDs, psychological damage etc, among others.
Fifth, I don’t know how legislation can help us. But the burden of raising a child out of marriage should not just be left to the girls and their families. Legislation ought to demand that the father of a child (teenage or not), should raise that child, or at least, be seen to tangibly contribute for its upkeep and welfare.
Lastly, after we have gone round in circles, we will come back home and discover that self control and abstinence are not bad practices. They in fact are the most intelligent, smart and common sense approach. The members between the legs ought not cause so much upheaval. Besides, the Creator is not forbidding anything or anyone.