Abstract
M.A. (Social Science)
Adolescent pregnancy and motherhood have been given considerable attention in the South African education system. Before 1994 pregnant adolescents were expelled from school (as the policy then stipulated) until they delivered their babies. With the adoption of new national legislation, current policies, the South African Schools Act no 84 of 1996 emphasise that equal education must be provided for all learners, thus abolishing the exclusion of pregnant learners from mainstream education.
This study explored support provided to teenage mothers who return to school.
The research approach of the research was qualitative in nature. The research
design was exploratory and descriptive. The target population was teenage mothers who returned to either of the only two high schools situated in Reiger Park. The sampling strategy was non-probability sampling. The data collection methods were semi-structured interview schedules, observation and a tape recorder. The data were analysed by with the assistance of a qualitative context analysis.
The findings suggested that participants experienced support from their families and community as a vital role in being a teenage mother, as they experienced being a teenage mother to be life changing. It was found that the families and community of the teenage mothers provide various kind of support to them to enable them to return to school. Although they had the support of their families and in some cases their boyfriends, the responsibilities of raising a child at such a young age placed heavy burdens on them. The general consensus from all the participants was that their children became the centre of their lives.
Practice guidelines for social workers were established to improve the provision of support to teenage mothers who do not receive support from their families and community.