Grade 9F Life Orientation Task 3 Unsafe practices and healthy lifestyle choices Section A Case Study 1: Teen pregnancy 1.1 Her breasts had gotten bigger and she missed her period. 1.2 She learned that she was pregnant when she took a pregnancy test. 1.3 She could have contracted HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases and infections. 1.4 Abortion is the deliberate termination of pregnancy, most often performed during the first trimester of pregnancy. She decided against abortion, because she felt that everyone was trying to convince her to go that route and she believed it was her decision to keep the baby. 1.5 → Adoption → Fostering → Partnering 1.6 She felt ashamed and like she was an outcast in her social groups. 1.7 She had to be homeschooled and her focus shifted to getting a job and making money to maintain the baby; so all her hopes and dreams of acquiring a higher education or pursuing a good career disappeared. 1.8 Teen fathers are less likely than their peers to finish high school.They are more likely to have economic and employment challenges and are generally at an economic disadvantage when compared to adult fathers. 1.9 Peer pressure or pressure from partners, sexual attraction, inadequate sexual education or bad examples set by parents and family members. Case Study 2: Teen pregnancy in South Africa 2.1 Tholakele got pregnant from having unprotected sex. 2.2 She does not know when she got infected, but found out that she is HIV positive when she went for a pregnancy check up at the clinic. 2.3 She does not know who she contracted HIV from because she could have had numerous sexual partners or her partners did not disclose that they were HIV positive before having intercourse with her. 2.4 She got a rash that looked like shingles on her forehead and she was always crying. 2.5 Tholakele didn’t want to be seen on the street because she thought that people would laugh at her or judge her for being sick. Having an HIV positive status as a teen can cause them to have a negative self-image, to question their self-worth, to feel ashamed and to feel isolated. 2.6 The clinic put her on medication while she was pregnant that prevents the transmission of HIV to the baby. 2.7 She had problems at home and lacked a strong familial support system, which she desperately needed to aid her in her difficult time. 2.8 You need to get your blood tested. If you are positive, go to the clinic and they will test how high your CD4 count is. 2.9 Use protection, practice safe sex and be faithful to your partner or don’t have sex at all. 2.10 She should ask for support from her family. If her family can take care of the baby during the day, she will be free to go back to school. She will also have to put extra time in, by catching up over the weekends or school holidays and doing some work at night after the baby has gone to bed. Section B Essay Question The cartoon uses irony to address the problem that some parents do not want to expose their children to any sexual topics, because they believe it will prompt them to have sex. The consequence is that these children receive no sexual education and therefore they are ill-prepared when faced with sexual encounters, which leads to unprotected sex. There are two factors that influence the mother and her daughter. The first factor is bad parenting. The mother probably also came from a household with poor parenting, which lead her to make poor lifestyle choices. These choices are also seen in her daughter, who made poor lifestyle choices due to inadequate parenting. The second factor is culture. Many cultures do not believe in educating their children about sex. This leads to teens making poor choices, because they do not have any sexual education and do not know how to approach sex safely. I would give the teen advice to stop the cycle of teen parenthood. She needs to educate herself on the topic of safe sex so that she can make more informed decisions and so that she can expose her child to a sexual education that will prevent them from making the same mistakes. Personal Reflection I’ve had a good experience doing this task. I’ve learned that safe sex is the way to go. I have learned that one day I will use protection to prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexual diseases. I feel that my work is good, but I could improve by coming up with more thought-provoking answers.
