Teenage pregnancy and social dilemma in a province of northeastern Thailand

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the awareness of communities about teenage pregnancy using focus  group  among  56  participants.  Qualitative  method  was  adopted  and  the  focus  group  discussion  was performed  for  three  groups: one  with  teenage  mothers,  one  with  the  parents  of  teenage  mothers,  and  one with  community  representatives.

The  results  showed  that  the  qualitative  analysis  revealed  current situation  of  teenage  mothers  that  is the  biggest  problem  that  should  be  resolved.  The focus  group  participants  agreed  that  the  issue  of  teenage pregnancy, there are several causes such as problems of themselves, parent/guardian or families, social and environment. The most important is teaching of sex education. It is too weak and is not suited to the present social  context,  so  that  schools  should  provide  training  about  sexual  relationships,  how  to  avoid  having  sex and the skills to refuse sexual relationships. Schools should be a priority setting for interventions and should teach  about  sex education  more.

This  study  contributes  to  understanding  the  aweareness  of  Thai  teenage  mothers,  their  mothers  and community  representatives.  This  study  revealed  the opinions  of  Thai  teenage  mothers,  their  perceptions of the causes of teenage pregnancy, and their views on preventing associated problems for the next generation of youth  from several groups, including  groups of teenage  mothers.

Based  on  this  research,  the  researchers  suggested  that  sex  education  should  be  conducted  in  primary school  students  so they  will  have  knowledge,  ability  and  skill  to  prevent  or avoid  sexual  harassment.