Relationship between Early Pregnancy and School Dropout among Adolescent Girls in Arkansas, USA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53819/810181025020Abstract
Pregnancy related school dropout is an issue of public concern worldwide nowadays. The study sought to determine the effects of early pregnancies on school dropout among adolescent girls in Arkansas, USA. The study utilized the descriptive research design. The target population included school girls’ students in secondary schools based in Arkansas. Notably, the target population was 419 respondents. The data collection instruments included questionnaires. The study found that early pregnancy and school dropout among adolescent girls in Arkansas is related. Teen pregnancy compromises young girls’ development opportunities. Drop out of school hinders their formal education, resulting in employment and productive disadvantages while making them vulnerable to poverty, violence, crime and social exclusion. Teen pregnancy and early motherhood represent a cost of opportunity for women, given the lack of adequate conditions, poor understanding and inadequate approach to the problem, resulting in the interruption of formal education or definite dropout by adolescent girls. The study recommended that strategies to prevent adolescent pregnancy be developed, such as community programs to improve social development, responsible sexual behavior education, and enhanced contraceptive counseling and delivery. The study also recommended that programs be tailored differently for girls who have dropped out of school, those in school and at risk for pregnancy, and those who are in school and become pregnant. The research suggests that there is a need to continue improving programmes to decrease teenage pregnancy and a need to try and increase the number of teenage mothers who go back to school to finish their education.
Keywords: Early Pregnancy, School Dropout, Adolescent Girls, Arkansas, USA
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