Adolescent mothers and school: coping mechanisms of adolescent mothers to stigma in three secondary schools in Ballesteros, Cagayan Valley

Abstract

Cases of early teenage pregnancy in the Philippines have abruptly increased over the past years. Pregnancy among teenagers has a great impact not only to them but to their parents, friends and other people in their society and create negative perceptions, thus building up stigma. According to the definition of "stigma" from the Merriam Webster's Dictionary, it is a set of negative and often unfair beliefs that a society or group of people have about something. Negative perceptions towards early teenage pregnancy are affected by the norms which developed through time from the influences of culture and religion (e.g. when a girl gets pregnant without the bond of marriage, it is a sin). Stigma creates isolation making people feel they are apart from their society. Teenagers getting pregnant early during high school affects how they deal with other students and their productivity in school i.e. attendance, class participation and participation with co - curricular activities, may it be physical or mental. This study is designed to understand and get insights from the situations of teenage females who got pregnant during high school and how they cope up with the stigma they got from people belonging from their society, may it be in their own homes, school, neighbors and others. The social theory of stigma by Erving Goffman is used as a framework to support the foundation of this study and to better understand how stigma works in a particular society and to know how to apply it to a certain condition. Key Informant interview is used as a methodology in gathering data from the participants of the study with the help of a self - administered interview guide to supply the objectives of the study. Teenagers who got pregnant during high school and continued with their studies in a regular school or alternative education or have dropped out from school after giving birth are the subjects of this study. They were chosen purposively from three participating schools in Ballesteros, Cagayan Valley. A list of profiles was requested from each school to get a glimpse of the participant's background. They were interviewed individually according to their time availability as well as their parents to gauge all factors with regards to their condition and determine the severity of stigma they have experienced and understand how the things they have done helped them to cope with it. In addition, this study will serve as a reference for schools, policy makers and future researchers to determine in what areas teenage mothers can be helped by formulating recommendations.