The mobile phone may be making life easier for most people, but in Kajiado it is giving parents sleepless nights.
It is reported that the use of mobile phone – calling, texting and accesing social media like Facebook and Whatsapp – has increased early marriages among school going children.
So much that a local leader has urged parents in Kajiado to discourage the use of mobile phones by primary school going children to tame the trend. Keekonyokie Ward Nominated MCA Leah Sankaire says mobile phone usage is a major contributing factor to high school drop-out rate among girls.
Sankaire challenged parents to play an active role in upbringing of their children. “Some parents do not even track movement of their girls, which has led to unwanted pregnancies in the community,” said the nominated MCA.
She was speaking in Olepolos Primary School in Kajiado County on during the Day of the African Child celebration. Olepolos headteacher Daniel Pulei called on joint efforts among parents and teachers to discourage use of mobile phones by school children.
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Mr Pulei said many girls had become victims of school dropout due to mobile phone usage. “Early marriages has denied many girls in Kajiado County the opportunity to continue with their education,” Pulei said.
He told parents to be cautious with the fast growing electronic media which do not teach African morals to children. The celebrations on African Child today was marked with the theme: Accelerating our collective efforts to end child marriage in Africa.
Stakeholders who are involved in rescuing of girls from early marriages and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Kajiado County lauded the theme of the day as it targeted vulnerable girls in the rural areas of Kajiado County.
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