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Teenage Pregnancies Spinning Out Of Control In Burundi

The UN's back to school program in Burundi (UN)
The UN's back to school program in Burundi (UN)
Stany Ngendakumana

Full statistics aren't yet available -- but even with partial numbers, it is clear that teen pregnancies are on the rise in Burundi.

So far this year, 30 students from the Budahunga communal school in the Kirundo province have already been expelled for being pregnant. Ten others from two private schools of Bujumbura have suffered the same fate. The Bafashebige coalition, an organization promoting education for all, says the situation is spiraling out of control, and won't get better until teenagers start using condoms.

Many Burundi teenagers believe condoms to be unpractical; others just don't feel confident about using them. One student from Rohero High School says they're too much of a hassle: "Condoms need a lot of concentration. You must check that it isn't torn, that it's correctly placed, that it doesn't slide off during intercourse."

But "using a condom is a matter of life and death," assures an official of PSI Burundi, a health NGO. For him, the country is past having a debate about whether or not to use condoms, especially since young people are so much more active sexually these days. The key is to make them understand that condoms are the only way to prevent pregnancy and transmitted diseases.

Unfortunately, even those who want to use condoms -- and whose parents are supportive -- are ashamed to ask for them in public in the few stores and health centers where they can be found. In order to get around the taboo, there is an urgent need for condom dispensers in school bathrooms, for teenagers to be able to get them without feeling embarrassed.

Not enough sex education in high schools

Most school officials don't agree. "Distributing prophylactics is against school values," says the director of a Bujumbura high school. He believes contraception is the responsibility of other institutions -- and of parents.

A former director of the Musinzira High School believes there must be more sex education classes, but agrees schools shouldn't encourage teenage sex by distributing condoms to their students.

For the secondary school education planning board (BEPES) -- whose goal, among others, is for schools to be at the forefront in the fight against AIDS --preventing pregnancies in high schools is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently.

Until then, pregnant teens will continue to be expelled from school -- to be reintegrated only when they present a medical document attesting they have given birth.

Read more from Syfia in French.

Photos- UN Photos

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Society

What's Spoiling The Kids: The Big Tech v. Bad Parenting Debate

Without an extended family network, modern parents have sought to raise happy kids in a "hostile" world. It's a tall order, when youngsters absorb the fears (and devices) around them like a sponge.

Image of a kid wearing a blue striped sweater, using an ipad.

Children exposed to technology at a very young age are prominent today.

Julián de Zubiría Samper

-Analysis-

BOGOTÁ — A 2021 report from the United States (the Youth Risk Behavior Survey) found that 42% of the country's high-school students persistently felt sad and 22% had thought about suicide. In other words, almost half of the country's young people are living in despair and a fifth of them have thought about killing themselves.

Such chilling figures are unprecedented in history. Many have suggested that this might be the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but sadly, we can see depression has deeper causes, and the pandemic merely illustrated its complexity.

I have written before on possible links between severe depression and the time young people spend on social media. But this is just one aspect of the problem. Today, young people suffer frequent and intense emotional crises, and not just for all the hours spent staring at a screen. Another, possibly more important cause may lie in changes to the family composition and authority patterns at home.

Firstly: Families today have fewer members, who communicate less among themselves.

Young people marry at a later age, have fewer children and many opt for personal projects and pets instead of having children. Families are more diverse and flexible. In many countries, the number of children per woman is close to or less than one (Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong among others).

In Colombia, women have on average 1.9 children, compared to 7.6 in 1970. Worldwide, women aged 15 to 49 years have on average 2.4 children, or half the average figure for 1970. The changes are much more pronounced in cities and among middle and upper-income groups.

Of further concern today is the decline in communication time at home, notably between parents and children. This is difficult to quantify, but reasons may include fewer household members, pervasive use of screens, mothers going to work, microwave ovens that have eliminated family cooking and meals and, thanks to new technologies, an increase in time spent on work, even at home. Our society is addicted to work and devotes little time to minors.

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