www.ijird.com April, 2024 Vol 13 Issue 4 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT DOI No. : 10.24940/ijird/2024/v13/i4/APR24004 Page 25 A Review on the Impact of Teenage Pregnancy on Students’ Academic Performance 1. Introduction Teenage pregnancy may be defined as the pregnancy that occurs in young girls within their teenage years, usually from thirteen (13) to nineteen (19) years of age. Today, teenage pregnancy is mostly predominant among girls in secondary/high schools across developing countries. Teenage pregnancy has had several regressive impacts on achieving the dreams of the girl child as the majority of girls entangled in the web of teenage pregnancy stop attending school and do not find it easy to return to school even after the pregnancy (Kauffman, 2016; Fagbamigbe et al., 2019). Macleod (2014) opines that teenage pregnancy is among the major problems confronting several countries across the world. Teenage pregnancy is a cosmopolitan challenge as it ravages both first-world countries as well as third-world countries, where it has particularly constituted a source of great concern to human service providers, policymakers and social workers owing to the severe negative impact it has on girls globally. Africa, particularly, has been severely hit by the menace of teenage pregnancy; however, it continues to be a global challenge. Teenage pregnancy is a direct result of voluntary or involuntary sexual activities involving teenage girls. This is mostly due to inadequate attention from parents to their children. Today, children grow up in a society in which transmission of overt or covert information on premarital sexual intercourse, which also involves teenagers through music, motion pictures, peers and magazines, is accepted. This culture has grossly fostered moral decadence among teenagers (Slowiski, 2015). Despite efforts being made by several agencies across the globe to foster education as a framework for responsible sexual activities and expose the consequences of premarital sexual intercourse, such as psychological effects, sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy, teenagers, including those in secondary/high schools seem not to be in control of their sexual behaviors because, even today, there are recurrent teenage pregnancies across the world with several of the affected teenagers being faced with the reality of either committing abortion, quitting education or even going as far as committing suicide (Panday et al., 2015). This situation has resulted in the emergence of several awareness programs in secondary/high schools put together to proffer solutions to the challenge of teenage pregnancy, attempting to cut down on its occurrence. School attendance and teenage pregnancy do not usually fit well together because of the negative effects that teenage pregnancy has on school attendance. Teenage mothers mostly quit school or, at best, attend classes irregularly due to the responsibilities that come with parenting (Patton, 2012). The primary aim of this study is to assess the impact of teenage pregnancy on the academic performance of students. ISSN 2278 – 0211 (Online) Ejuchegahi A. Angwaomaodoko Former Lecturer, Ife College of Education Abejukolo Kogi State, Nigeria Abstract: Teenage pregnancy has been reported to be rampant among secondary (high) school girls across the world, especially in developing countries. Low self-esteem, poor social-economic standards, poor parenting and peer influence, lack of age-appropriate sex education and poor knowledge of the apparent use of contraceptives are among the leading causes of teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy has become a global concern as a result of its multifaceted consequences on the girl child and the general society. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of teenage pregnancy on the academic performance of students. Teenage pregnancy has overwhelming detrimental impacts on the academic achievement of the girl child. It has been listed as a major factor responsible for the majority of school dropouts by female students. It is characterized by low self-esteem, isolation and psychological effects, which may make the pregnant student skip classes and miss assignments, projects and exams, resulting in poor academic performance, which may ultimately lead to the student dropping out of school. The study recommends that deliberate efforts should be made by society to prevent teenage pregnancy, and if teenage students get pregnant, efforts should be made to improve their mental health and self-esteem. They should be given adequate support and not be isolated or thrown out of school. Keywords: Teenage pregnancy, academic performance, impact, students, school, peers, girl child