Royston Cameron – `I am of the opinion that teenage pregnancy is still an issue in our community. There are many factors that contribute to this; most notable is the inability of single parent mothers who cannot effectively provide for their children. The other thing is there are no job opportunities for the youths these days and they are forced to do things that they really don’t want to do. So I believe if there is better job opportunities there would be a reduction. The other thing, fathers starting the responsibility for their kids would make a great difference.
Edwin Downer – `The issue of teenage pregnancy is on the rise in our community. I am a person who is on the frontline every day and see so many of our young girls walking pregnant. Many of them would have drop out of school not because they got pregnant but because they were forced to do so because of poverty. In most cases they would have come from a mother-headed household with many siblings. On the other hand some teenagers fall to peer pressure and before they know it they get caught. The absence of a father figure is another major issue. Then we have a generation of young ones who are considered speedy, their eyes are shine, some of them get caught having sex for simple things like sneakers and other material things which they could very well do without.’
Lacey Schultz – `I think teenage pregnancy is a big issue in Guyana and not just Linden because in most cases children lack proper parental support. Most teenagers who find themselves pregnant come from single parent families. Because of the lack of parental supervision some of these kids tend to go looking for love in all the wrong places. Some of them of go looking for money to take care of their daily needs and find themselves trapped in the wrong brackets. For us to have a reduction children have to get guidance, the government has to ensure that there are income generation activities. Government and the private sector also need to invest in recreational activities which would see youths directing their energies in a positive direction.’
Vynette Duggin – `In this life there is the strong force of good and evil and with this in mind we need to ensure that our children are brought up in the fear of God. If they don’t have God in their lives Satan has a way of pulling them in and he has nothing good to offer. If we look around us today it’s teenagers who are not walking in the fear of God that are being trapped in the ring of becoming pregnant. In church we teach youths the value of keeping themselves for marriage. So we should insist on bringing up children in the fear of God and it’s only then they would be able to stand against the forces of evil and not get caught up in the sex ring which leads to early pregnancy.’
Jean Washington – `We need to have guidance and counseling returned in our schools. It should be a subject from the lowest to the highest grades at schools to teach our children about sex. Most parents wants what is best for their children but because of poverty and other social issues they cannot give their children the right guidance so they need the help and that gap can be filled through guidance and counseling sessions in schools. The other thing is youths need good role models, looking around our society today we have very few role models for our youths to emulate.’
Karen Bentick – `It is very important that we teach our children from an early age about sex. The sex word is so taboo that children grow up very curious about it so they would go and try out. But if we talk to them about it, it would remove the curiosity. In a lot of cases there are men who prey on the weaknesses of young girls, they go to them with no good intentions just to have sex with them, give them a fine money and send them packing. So it is important that we empower our youths both boys and girls and most of all our girls. From what I see around me the prevalence has reduced. I might be wrong but from what I see and compared to years gone by it is not that prevalent. ‘
Simone Johnson – `Teenage pregnancy is still prevalent in our society and throughout the country as a whole. This is because there are a lot of parents out there that cannot afford to see their children go through school. They live below the actual minimum wage and that’s definitely a problem. They need to have some form of implementation for the increase of salaries. On the other hand we have persons who are paid to make interventions on the part of these affected children. Schools welfare officers need to get up from behind the desk and go out into the schools and do what they are being paid to do. The thing is the children are going out there looking for affection and are falling into traps and in the long run they are further hurt and on the part of girls, they end up with an unwanted pregnancy.’
Janicia Allen – `I say a resounding yes, teenage pregnancy is very prevalent in our communities today. Day after day there is a further degradation of morals among our people, parents are not living up to expectations and so children have no proper influence in their lives. More than ever in single parent homes children see mothers bringing in tom, dick and harry and after they leave is another baby. In their minds that’s ok so they try the same thing. In other cases children do not get the kind of love and attention that is necessary to make their little hearts warm so they grow up looking for that affection and that’s what leads to early pregnancies. They do not possess the negotiating skill that they can stand up to the male and say no if they do not have a condom or I am not going to unless we are married. ‘
Latoya Cummings – `I do believe teenage pregnancy is an issue in our society. First of all it starts from our homes where mothers are left with the full responsibility to raise their children because fathers have either walked away from the home neglecting their responsibilities or there are there and rather than give guidance they turn around and sexually molest their young girls. With that orientation young girls go out looking for the affection and care from other men and they are again taken advantage of. Poverty too plays a great part because some parents find it challenging to even get food to put on the table their young girl children leave school and go out there to feed themselves and brothers and sisters. This result in them becoming mothers at an early age and that’s it they end up just like their mother.’
Cleveland Thomas – `I think that teenage pregnancy is an issue here in Linden and one of the reasons for that is this whole problem with poverty along with the fact that most of our girls and boys are brought up in families with mothers only so the whole idea of teaching of values is gone down tremendously. Most of the children are lacking in self-esteem and confidence so they fall prey to those folks who promise them something better. They are promised a better life but there is a price attached, `you got to become pregnant for me.’ Some persons are into what I call organized prostitution and that they are just making these kids by-the-way and they are being paid to make them. The man would give them money and they make the child and they continue like that, and they go on and on and so we could have a girl by age 20 years with three children for three different fathers and the vicious cycle continues.’
