Senseless laws increasing teen pregnancies

It’s time that boys, girls and parents be held responsible and accountable, writes John R.

Alocal newspaper recently displayed the following headline: “Teen pregnancy a pandemic.” These are babies that have no future to look forward to. To some, this comes as a shock. Not really, in a sex-mad country.

What is a shock is that, over and above the birthrate, 50 000 teenage pregnancies were terminated.

The Comprehensive Sexuality Education Act was introduced in 2000. It was to be a preventative programme against HIV/Aids. It’s been a total failure.

To this disaster, the Amendment Act No 32 of 2007 was added, where adolescents may have sex with 16 and 17 year olds, provided there is no more than a two-year gap between them. Absolutely insane. These senseless and idiotic Acts, plus the fact that young people are being bombarded with sex education from an early age, has exacerbated the horrendous teenage births – 400 000 between April 2020 and March 2023.

Our experts have no solutions. All talk and no action. Could I humbly suggest the following:

Scrap the horrific Acts and return to the law whereby sex under the age of 16 is rape;

Promulgate a law that forces under-age girls to reveal the names of the fathers to the police;

The fathers or parents to contribute to the child’s upbringing (by law);

Establish special courts to deal with these cases; and

Establish detention centres or juvenile jails for convicted minors.

It’s about time that law and order is enforced and that boys, girls and parents be held responsible and accountable.