Social media influencers, celebrities blamed for rise in teenage pregnancy

A Bolgatanga-based Pentecost Church of Ghana Pastor believes the devil has sent his agents in the form of celebrities to influence young ladies especially on social media.

He says this has led to the rise of teenage pregnancy as young girls are now influenced by the life led by some celebrities who influence them negatively.

The Bukere District Pastor of the Church of Pentecost in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region who spoke to Bolgatanga-based Dreamz FM said these celebrities and influencers have made pre-marital sex and sexual explicitness look normal.

Pastor Francis Amogre noted that although the Church is trying its bit to fight against the canker of teenage pregnancy, the efforts of the Church seem to be in vain as the infiltration of foreign culture and the devil is stronger.

“Teenage pregnancy has been a serious challenge and we had been battling it years back and we are still battling it. Being a religious man and for that matter, a pastor, I will say that the devil has sent some people to propagate its message. You see these well-to-do people that sometimes they call themselves celebrities or maybe the slay queens or whatever they call them, they come to social media, talk about sex plainly and they make it fashionable. They make the people feel if you don’t engage in sex, you are not civilized,” he stated.

He added, “We agree that the bible is not our indigenous culture, we accepted it from foreign country, and it is helping us. However, there is also another foreign culture that has also brought something called ‘civilization’. And people think they are now civilized, people think that the foreign people they behave this way and they have adopted it which is a big problem that the church is facing.

Sometimes, you would want to advise the people with the messages of the bible and people are bringing the new world’s view. There is something called the new world’s view which mostly is coming from the western and European countries. So I think that the church is using the bible to do our best but the influence of the foreign culture also has a negative impact on the people. These are some of the things that are causing these teenage pregnancies and the problem that it is bringing to our society”.

To Pastor Francis Amogre there is the need for more to be done in the fight against immorality.

He indicated that the Church will continue to do its bid and fight pre-marital sex indicating that it will not encourage the use of contraceptives that will encourage the youth to engage in sexual activities.