October 14, 2015 By Ibrahim Tarawallie
“Let us help ourselves and our parents by doing well in schools. The age we find ourselves now, we should only think about our education and not paying attention on worldly affairs because it will lead us nowhere,” Yeanie Aminata Konneh, an SSS1 pupil of Modern High School urged her colleagues.
Speaking during a special event organised by the National Commission for Children (NCC) to mark International Day of the Girl Child on Sunday, 11 October, Konneh said urged girls in particular to concentrate on their school work in a bid to acquire quality education and be highly respected in society.
She said majority of girls who get pregnant nowadays are school going children who risk losing their lives when giving birth because they are too young to endure the pains of labour.
“There are lots of complications when a girl child is pregnant because her mindset is not physically and emotional prepared to take care of the child. Let us pay attention to our education and listen to what we are being told by our parents. Let us know that early marriage is not for us,” she warned.
The precocious teenage girl also urged her colleagues not to shy away from talking to their parents and elders in their various communities about their problems, and advised parents to encourage their children and not to be also stern with them.
NCC Board Member, Haja Halimatu Abdullah, stated that the commission was established to protect the rights of children, especially the girl child against early marriage.
“Let us pay attention to the girl child because they are important in any society. It is the responsibility of parents to mould and train them well. A child should be child until they become adult. Child labour is on the increase all over the country and that should not be the case,” said Haja Abdullah.