Letlhakeng teen pregnancy surge blamed on parenting
Pini Bothoko | Tuesday June 21, 2022 06:00
Letlhakeng Sub-District Council chairperson, Meshack Tshenyego, blamed parents for the surge in teenage pregnancies in the area accusing them of neglecting their children.
Tshenyego told The Monitor that the majority of parents are not doing enough to educate and mould their teenage children on issues of sexuality. “When parents fail to talk to their children about their sexuality, they should be blamed if their children make bad choices.
Teenage pregnancy in Letlhakeng and surrounding areas remain a concern as teenage girls continue to drop out of school due to pregnancy," he said. Tshenyego said many parents do not take part in the upbringing of their children as they spend most of their time away from home abusing alcohol among other vices hence the rise in teenage pregnancies in the area.
He said on average they record six to 10 defilement cases in a month with Letlhakeng, Ditshegwane, Sesung, Khudumelapye, Salajwe, Sirilatholo, and neighbouring lands and cattle posts being the most prevalent.
He said some victims are primary school learners and the others are junior secondary school students, who are in the majority. Tshenyego said some pregnancy scenarios can entirely be blamed on irresponsible parenting, especially with some children permitted to cohabitate at a younger age. “You can say this is irresponsible parenting because young girls are allowed to cohabitate.
How can parents allow such behaviour if they are not irresponsible? Moreover, some parents continue to sweep such incidents under the carpet,” he said. He challenged parents to be more responsible and address this issue at a family level. Tshenyego said at the sub-district level they are engaging through schools so that they can pass on the message to parents during the parents and community meetings. “The message is clear; parents should do their part and take responsibility for their children.
They should be open and speak the truth about sex and its consequences to their children and can only do so if they take part in their child's development. Some parents have become the downfall of their children something that is evident in their academic results,” he said. Tshenyego said when neglected by their parents, in search of comfort, young girls end up falling into the hands of people who abuse them sexually and most of them end up getting pregnant.
He added that children usually engage in sexual activities to experiment but since they do not know much about protection and childbirth control methods, most of them end up falling pregnant. “Defilement is a serious offence and everyone despite their background should know that sleeping with a minor is against the law and a punishable offence.
We should not be a society with young mothers. It doesn’t reflect well on us as a country. I am pleading with men to let young girls grow into responsible women and make the right choices,” Tshenyego said. However, Tshenyego stated that efforts are in place through the police in educating the public about defilement and its penalty but unfortunately some men continue to defile girls while some parents support the perpetrators by concealing such cases.