KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — One of the most common options to deal with adolescent out-of-wedlock pregnancy is to send the unwed mother to a shelter home.
The stigma surrounding unwed mothers and children born out of wedlock is still evident in the country, as many face unwanted glares and discrimination from society and are even shunned by their own family members.
For the parents, hearing such life-changing news involving their own daughters can be overwhelming. They would be livid after realising that their child had lost her innocence, but instead of resolving the issue, their mindset is more on how to handle the embarrassment caused by their daughter.
The only way out of the “mess” is to send their unwed daughter away from the neighbourhood.
However, there are many factors why teenagers or adolescents navigate some very grown-up challenges, including unplanned pregnancy, with cases taking place at home without their parent’s knowledge.
At a forum on ‘Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy a Joint Responsibility’ at Menara Felda recently, a panellist cited a case of a 13-year-old girl, who was eight months pregnant, was sent to Raudhatus Sakinah in Batu Caves about three months ago.
Raudhatus Sakinah, which was established in April 1998, is a youth shelter and rehabilitation centre.
Shockingly, the teenager’s mother, a full-time housewife, was not aware of the physical changes in her daughter.
The forum was held in conjunction with the launch of ‘RemajaSelamat Portal Townhouse: Teens and Parenthood: Empowering Teenagers’ Well-Being’ organised by Rising Star (under Yayasan Sime Darby) in collaboration with UKM-Graduate School of Business (UKM-GSB), Yayasan Sime Darby and Yayasan Felda.
Message Delivery Challenges
Given the rampant cases of adolescent out-of-wedlock pregnancies, comprehensive education on sexuality and reproductive health is crucial for young people, both female and male. This will teach them to be responsible so that they can prevent unintended pregnancies.
However, delivering the message and sharing the knowledge among the youth has its challenges, as, more often than not, it does not reach the troubled youngsters.
Commenting on the issue, the National Population and Family Development Board’s (LPPKN) Human Reproduction Division (Pekerti) sub-unit head Dr Wan Nur Baiti Sudin said that in providing the information, her team would take a cautious stance when sharing the knowledge and giving exposure to students during her talks in schools.
Among the challenges, choice of words and having some limitations in sharing the information is crucial, as care should be exercised when uttering certain words to ensure whatever content is delivered is safe and effective for the young mindset.
“What happened was the message did not really reach the students. Comprehensive and accurate education on reproductive health should be based on their age and level of maturity,” she told the forum.
Such programmes are regularly conducted in schools, drawing as many students from all age levels and with the hope that the facilitator will be able to reach out to all students.
“This modality is related to non-specific and general knowledge on reproductive health for all and may not touch on risky sexual behaviour and pregnancy as such information is specific for young adults,” Dr Baiti said.
Sexual health education is hampered by societal taboos, with the perception that it promotes pre-marital sexual activity.
Among other barriers, some teachers may not be comfortable speaking about reproductive health, hence making the programme less effective.
She said at LPPKN, its reproductive health education module has been developed by considering different learning styles for youth based on their age and the growth mindset of children.
“The activities in the module provide opportunities for the young to ask questions and give their response to every topic that is taught.
“Through our experience in conducting this programme in schools, students were proactive participants; some even shared their past experience. Only after the programme did they realise the effects and consequences on premarital sex,” Dr Baiti said.
Through this programme, youths were given the platform to seek the necessary assistance through facilitators at LPPKN.
“Besides that, participating teachers also found they felt calmer and more focused in managing youth issues after their exposure to the programme,” she said.
Change Stigma, Reproductive Education
Parents and the community would usually give different perspectives or have negative perceptions toward young, unwed mothers-to-be.
Elaborating on the issue, she said social discrimination also negatively affected both the unwed mother and her family.
“This negative stigma causes the unwed mother’s family to feel ashamed to face the community with serious consequences on the girl.
“More often than not, her family will opt to either quit school or postpone her studies, send her to the rehabilitation centre or shelter home, or even chase their pregnant daughter away,” Dr Baiti said.
With no support from her parents, the youngster will be vulnerable to depression, hampering opportunities to further her studies.
“Parental and community support is vital to give unwed mothers a second chance to lead a better and productive life.
“Once society is aware of the situation, they will also understand the importance for young people to learn about reproductive health or sexuality education at an early age at home.
“Parents should also be aware that today’s younger generation is growing up faster than previous generations, as they are given access to technology with parental supervision in using the Internet with exposure to inappropriate content associated with immoral behaviour,” she said.
However, Dr Baiti noted that Malaysia still upholds the traditional cultural values of respectfully interacting with people of all backgrounds, noting that it is important to maintain a gentle and indirect demeanour when disseminating information to the public.
“To teach reproductive health education to target groups, covering aspects of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, for example, we need to seek and identify the vulnerable youths and those who are actively involved in risky sexual behaviours.
“As such, accurate information can be delivered to the right target groups, and this will bring a long way in reducing the incidence involving social problems committed by youth such as premarital sex, unwed pregnancy and also sexually transmitted diseases,” she said, adding that open-mindedness has its limits based on situations.
Dr Baiti said comprehensive education on reproductive health should be made suitable for the younger generation’s age groups.
Besides that, teachers should not be prejudiced in providing the information to youth and they should not be judgemental, especially towards those who are involved in risky behaviours.
“This is what is termed as stigma, and this will only discourage youth from getting information from the right source,” she said.
Adequate Knowledge Needed
An expanding online world for children provides benefits but also risks. As parents, it is important to monitor children’s online activity and educate them on safe internet practices to protect them from exposure to inappropriate content.
In this regard, parents can also access information on sexuality, among others, so that they will be able to educate their children on related issues. What is worrying is that most parents are still ill-equipped for such information.
In this regard, Dr Baiti said parents play a critical role in child development as the child’s first and most critical years are spent in a family environment and that parents are the single greatest influence on children.
“Most parents would not expect their child to ask them on matters related to reproductive health. Therefore, they need to prepare early on what they should explain when asked by their kids.
“However, proactive parents will educate their children on body anatomy and body safety from a young age, especially when the child can understand conversations,” she said.
Information and parental guidance on reproductive health education that is suitable for sharing with the child is accessible for free from reliable sources, either through physical or online programmes.
“LPPKN also provides a module for reproductive health education especially for parents and youth, ‘Modul Cakna Diri’ (I am in Control) as well as highlights on reproductive health for reference to teachers and parents on the LPPKN portal, which is accessible to the public for free,” Dr Baiti said.
While giving exposure and information to their children, parents should also explain to them the rules and family values and simultaneously, also give them an opportunity to air their views
Parents must also be prepared to adapt to different situations when the need arises.
“In most cases, parents are not open and avoid discussing reproductive health. This causes their kids to follow their natural impulsivity and curiosity and learn from other sources.
“Initial interest and curiosity lead to inquiry, and the situation becomes more complex when they want to try what they learned of from the wrong source,” she said.
With the ever-evolving landscape of technology, younger generations now have an almost limitless amount of knowledge and opportunities for engagement. With unlimited, unrestricted, and unmonitored Internet access, children are exposed to inappropriate content.
In order to ensure that children are safe, it is necessary to monitor and, in some cases, restrict access to certain sites, in which all parties should work hand in hand to address social issues involving youths, which are on the rise.
“The role of educating our youth does not solely rest on teachers, parents and the government. It is the duty of all the community including corporate bodies.
“Youths are the national assets as they are Malaysia’s future leaders. Mould young minds to bring out the best in them not only in education and knowledge but also in their personality and behaviour to ensure they are on the right track,” Dr Baiti said.
She also urged parents and the community to be more open-minded and take cognisance of the importance of reproductive health education for the younger generation to prevent them from being involved in social ills that could spell doom for their future.
LPKKN has adopted a youth-friendly approach in its campaign, as they can visit the Pusat Remaja KafeTEEN in Putrajaya, which was established as a pioneer in disseminating reproductive health and social education to youth in Malaysia.
Need to be Effective
Meanwhile, LPKKN’s Sexuality and Reproductive I-Medik Education Unit head Dr Anayasmin Azmi said the type of sexual education for youths should be more effective to ensure the relevant information reaches the target groups.
“It should be delivered in a creative manner suitable for youth who are drawn to dopamine-reward activities; sexual education is incorporated in challenging activities like group extreme sports to develop their assertiveness, leadership, and self-regulation skills which are inherent in reproductive education,” said the Universiti Teknologi MARA lecturer.
Commenting on the stigma faced by unwed mothers, Dr Anayasmin said it is vital for parents to remove the negative stigma of sex education to prevent young pregnancy.
“We now need to shift to ‘preventive more than curative’ and prepare our young by taking the first step. Parents as pillars of the family should realise that sexual education is very important and relevant,” she added.
Sexual education should be taught at an early age as part of child growth and development and should be a continuous process, noting that it is not merely ‘touch and go.’
“In this regard, the approach should also be suitable and in line with Malaysian locality as well as other religious and cultural background which uphold the protective factors, and not otherwise.
“Besides that, education related to sexuality education should be treated with respect and responsibly,” Dr Anayasmin said.
Dr Anayasmin, who has managed various cases related to unwed pregnant adolescents, said the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022 showed that out of 2,512 respondents surveyed, 190 of them or 7.6 per cent, admitted to having sex and 62 or 32.8 per cent had sex before they were 14 years old.
— Bernama
