MEDIA CAMPAIGN SUPPORTING COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDUCATION TO

DETER TEENAGE PREGNANCY

Marco Jemsboy E. Arcena

BACOMM AC-11
 I. THE PROBLEM

Teenage pregnancy is recently a nationwide concern. It is a pregnancy that occurs on

women with a minor age, nor under the age of 20. About 16 million girls aging between 15 and

19 years and approximately one million girls younger than 15 years old give birth according to

WHO (World Health Organization). According to Kirchengast (2016), these cases of adolescent

pregnancy happen in low- and middle-income countries, whose health-care services are poor. In

the Philippines, according to the national office of Population Commission, 196, 000 Filipinas

get pregnant annually, resulting to a total of 500 cases of adolescent pregnancy every day.

Respectively in Eastern Visayas, this issue had created an alarm to the authorities.

According to Pulma (2019), there are 10, 000 recorded cases in the region, resulting to 7% of the

female total population. These teenage moms are impregnated by male teenagers at the same age

group- adolescents that basically take the risk of the contemporary issue of premarital or youthful

sex. This issue creates a stigma, not only to the authorities but also to society, making it a

national concern.

Teenage pregnancy has many consequences which are serious and critical, most likely to

affect both the child and the young mom. Luker (1996) has found out that pregnant teenagers,

unlike mature childbearing women, are prone to have a miscarriage, premature birth, and

neonatal death. This results in a child having the chance to have deformities or not

well-developed. In a wider frame, according to Natividad (2013) young mothers has a greater

contribution to the national population due to more possible child-bearing years compared to

women who had their first birth in mature age and not in a minor one.

Moreover, teen mothers are more likely to experience depression due to feeling of being a

burden not only to her family but to the community in general (Hoffman & Maynard, 2008;

Martin et al., 2013; NCPTUP, 2010). Furthermore, Natividad (2013) found out that teen mothers

are also most likely to limit their abilities and potentials due to what had happened to them. This

happens, according to them due to the change in the mindset of the teen mom, that her batch

mates will soon graduate already, with her being left behind.

More likely, teenagers are sexually active accordingly to what the rates of teenage

pregnancy suggest. As a response, a program to deter the escalating rate would either be

comprehensive sex education, responsible parenting, birth spacing, and other remedies that
would resolve the issue. Today, most European nations are implementers of comprehensive

education and these countries are also the ones with the lowest teenage pregnancies (Simrin,

2015).

A debate, whether or not sex education to be part of the curriculum is on a discussion in

the country. Arguments are timely, due to many aspects as well as sectors in the society that are

divided into different beliefs and opinions about the issue. According to Manalang (2010), sex

education promotes an idea to the younger generation to have multiple sex partners and

forgetting the values which are supposed to be integrated upon them. On the other hand, Briones

(2018) claimed that comprehensive sex education is imperative in order to curb the incidences

that are prevalent among Filipino youths.

In the United States, according to Kirby (2007), a review of sex education being part of

the curricula had found out that comprehensive sex education had effectively lowered the risk of

teens to involve in risky sexual activities by one-third. The rate of teenage pregnancy also

declined over a decade from 1990-2010, reducing the number of recorded cases in the country

(Kost and Henshaw, 2014). With these observations, some researchers have found out that sex

education allows teenagers to have enough knowledge about sexual activities and be aware of the

consequences it may bring.

The research focused on the capacity of a comprehensive sex education program to deter

the further escalation of teenage pregnancy cases. Sex education is based on the study of human

sexual aspects such as human sexual anatomy, sexual intercourse, sexual reproduction system,

sexually transmitted diseases, responsible parenthood, contraception methods, and other aspects

of human sexual behavior (Donkor & Lariba, 2017). C onsidering the rise of these cases in

the Philippines, a program to deter and curb the number of incidences is recommended and

highly suggested.

II. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

a. Counseling/ Symposium

Through a counseling or symposium program, the teens will be oriented with what they

should do to avoid early pregnancy. They will also be educated with the importance of a
comprehensive sex education program concerning the insurgence of teenage pregnancy as a

contemporary issue.

Pro: Authorized people would have the opportunity to speak regarding the issue and

from them, the participating teens could dwell lessons so necessary to avoid unexpected

pregnancy.

Con: Lack of funds and resources, as well as the unwillingness of the participants to

participate in the event.

b. A Law to Completely Implement the Proposal

A law or ordinance that will completely implement the program would be best to urge the

public for a sex education program.

Pro: Implementation of the program will be mandatory.

Con: Discussion on both upper and lower houses could take time due to unparallel

opinions about the proposal.

c. Radio/ Print Advertisement

An advertisement campaign through radio and print materials could somehow encourage

and inform the public concerning the issue.

Pro: Easier to produce and does not require a big amount.

Con: For temporary only and not ideal to get the interest of the younger generation who

are somehow tech-savvy.

d. Video Campaign

A video campaign to be shown on television, YouTube, and other social media platforms

is ideal because it is a recent trend that the younger generations patronise.

Pro: It is available to everyone most especially the teens, who are fond of searching the

net.

Con: The effectivity will depend only on the story that will be developed.

III. PROPOSED SOLUTION

To address the proposal a video campaign would be best for the reason that it is

accessible and is more interesting. It would provide a lasting impact on the public that could lead

to the deterrence of the uprising cases of teenage pregnancy in the country.

IV. CALL FOR ACTION

The video campaign will address the necessity of comprehensive sex education. it will

include testimonies from victims of early pregnancy, and the lessons they've learned from their

experience. Furthermore, experts on family planning, sexual health, and other authorized people

will be interviewed to lecture about the topic. In the last part of the video, the campaign slogan

will be shown, which could be: “Think Before You Play.”, or “Education Is The New

Sensation”, which will be the keynote for the audience to remember the video campaign.

V. REFERENCES

Donkor, A.K., & Lariba, A.L., (2017). Indonesian Journal of Biology Education. ​The impact of

sex education on teenage pregnancy in basic schools of Bawku municipal district in

Ghana​. ​Vol. 3 No. 3, 2017; pp. 214-221

Gutierrez, J. (2010). Sex education debate heats up in Philippines.​

https://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/06/22/10/sex-education-debate-heats-philippines

Hoffman, S.D., & Maynard R.A., (2008). ​Kids Having Kids: Economic Costs & Social

Consequences of Teen Pregnancy, ​(2nd ed.)​.​ Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.

Kirchengast, S. (2016). An analysis of contemporary social welfare issues. ​Teenage

Pregnancies:

A Worldwide Social and Medical Problem.

https://www.intechopen.com/books/an-analysis-of-contemporary-social-welfare-issues/te

enage-pregnancies-a-worldwide-social-and-medical-problem

Kirby, D. (2007). ​Emerging Answers: Research Findings on Programs to Reduce Teen

Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Washington, DC: National Campaign to

Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Retrieved from

http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/EA2007/EA2007_Full.pdf

Kost, K., & Henshaw, S. (2014). ​U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions: National and

State Trends by Age, Race and Ethnicity.​ New York: Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved

from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrends10.pd

Luker, K. (1996). ​Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy.​ Cambridge, MA:
 Harvard University Press.

Martin, J.A., et al. (2013). ​Births: Final Data for 2012. National Vital Statistics Reports.

Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Retrieved from

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr62_09.pdf

Mateo, J. (2018). ​Deped: Comprehensive sex education to develop responsible youth.​ Retrieved

from ​https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/education-and

home/2018/08/09/1840820/deped-comprehensive-sex-education-develop-responsible-you

th

sss

Meniano, S. (2019). ​High teen pregnancy cases in Eastern Visayas alarms PopCom.​ Retrieved

from. ​https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1081801

Natividad, J. (2013). ​Teenage Pregnancy in the Philippines: Trends, Correlates and Data

Sources. J​ ournal of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies, 28(1), 30-31.

National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (2010). ​Fact Sheets: Why it

Matters. Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned

Pregnancy. Retrieved from

http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/why-it-matters/pdf/WIM_Full%20Set.pdf

Simrin, J. (2015). Which Countries Have The Best Sex Education? Retrieved from

https://www.seeker.com/which-countries-have-the-best-sex-education-1792604688.html