Chronicle Editor
Youth focus with Dr Manners Msongelwa
Semester marriages”, as co-habitation is commonly referred to sees student couples sharing living quarters and assuming the setting of “a married couple”. The stay-ins, may be between those in significant relationships or get classified as, “no-strings attached” unions.
These “marriages” have brought in their fair share of problems such as STIs, GBV, unwanted pregnancies, poor academic grades, depression and the excessive use of oral contraceptives.
For university and college students, co-habiting has far-reaching negative effects such as illegal termination of pregnancies, unwanted babies and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections, among other effects.
The high demand for emergency contraception pills, commonly known as “morning-after pills”, in areas near universities and colleges, proves that most tertiary students do not practice safe sex.
According to the study, co-habiting has been associated with a number of problems, including sexually transmitted diseases, abortions, sexual abuse and violence, low academic performance, increased cost of medical care and unwanted pregnancies.
College students co-habiting often take nude pictures of themselves and cases of revenge porn are common.
Co-habiting is largely practised because it is of financial benefit to some students
These marriages only use condoms for the first few encounters of sexual interaction and abandon their use, exposing the female student to unwanted pregnancies, abortions and diseases. This also leads to excessive use of oral contraceptives — “morning-afters” — among females students.
These unions cause a lot of added stress as both young partners do not anticipate, and at most fail to handle them thus leading to depression or worse — suicide amongst university and college students.
The wife duties performed by the lady in the relationship may also take a toll on her ability to take part in school work. At the end of the day, she may end up dropping out of school.
Another consequence of cohabitation is that it may make the male partner to engage in social vices in order to keep the “marriage” afloat. This is because, the allowance provided by his parents may not be enough to take care of him and his campus wife. Some male students may end up engaging in crime or joining cult groups.
Another consequence of semester marriages is that such relationships sooner or later become monotonous which sometimes lead to loss of their professed love. In such cases, one or both of the partners may begin to engage in sexual abuse, domestic or emotional violence. This will eventually lead to emotional trauma which may end up affecting the academic performance of one or both of the partners.
Semester marriages are also believed to be a major cause in increasing the rate of sexual transmitted infections (STIs) like HIV as they are usually for a short period, and new semesters bring potential new opposite sex room-mates. There are also the so called no-strings attached unions.
Depression, mental health issues, nude pictures, revenge porn and excessive use of oral contraceptives by female students should also get us concerned. There are several cases where students commit suicides after former live-in partners leak nude pictures.
Conclusion
Parents need to take greater care of their children. They must visit and find out where their children live, meet roommates, etc. Accommodation on campus should also be affordable to students so that they are not vulnerable to various kinds of exploitation, including co-habitation.
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ν Dr Manners Msongelwa
+263 771 019 392
Author/Youth Coach/Teacher
Online Reporter