Cape Coast: More 10, 13 Year Olds Getting Pregnant

The Cape Coast Metro Social Welfare Department is expressing worry about the increasing rate of pregnancies among children in the area.

According to the department, Cape Coast for instance recorded 25 cases of pregnant children within the age range of 10 and 13 years between January and April last year and the figure is expected to be high this year as more children are getting pregnant with each passing day.

This was disclosed by the Cape Coast Metro Director of the Department of Social Welfare, Mr. Daniel Agyepong at a town hall meeting at Amanful, a suburb of Cape Coast.

The situation, he explained is unhealthy as more girls are abandoning the classrooms due to pregnancies with many suffering health complications during the period of pregnancies due to their inability to access quality health care.

Those who impregnate such girls, he explained mostly deny responsibility leaving such girls to fend for themselves.

The meeting was organised by the Parish Justice and Peace Commission with support from the CCMA and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) on the theme, “Community Participation in Local Governance for Rapid Development”.

Mr. Agyepong bemoaned the penchant for some parents within the metropolis to shirk their responsibilities towards their children as a major cause of the disturbing situation.

Another disturbing development, he said, is the rate at which children of school going age loiter at the beach than be in school during instructional periods.

He indicated the future for the metropolis looked bleak if parents and guardians did not take up their responsibilities and reverse the current trend. In an instance he gave, he narrated how a father had given three children, half a bottle of club Muscatella as their meal for the day at school.

Mr. Agyepong said such attitudes push the children to engage in acts that retard their development.

In another account he gave, Mr. Agyapong lamented the situation where a 14-year-old girl was pregnant but could not readily identify the father of the unborn child.

He said the girl was accusing her fourth boyfriend of being responsible, a charge the boy refused. He said the girl acknowledged having had sexual relations with three other boys.

Mr. Agyepong blamed parents for such happenings in the metropolis.

He indicated the metro assembly was still committed to educating parents on the essence of good parenting.

“The CCMA will continue to drum home the essence of good parenting until every parent in this metropolis gets to know his responsibility. Until such a feat is achieved we will not stop this education”.

Source: Starrfmonline