Gravidez na adolescência e evasão escolar: um estudo de caso

Abstract

School drop-out is a central issue and a pressing challenge both in outlining and implementation of public policies in education, in addition to spanning the educational field, reaching various educational environments and levels. Teenage pregnancy is, in turn, a complex and multi-determined phenomenon, which is associated with psychological, social and historical factors, as well as being considered a situation of psychosocial risk. This research is interested precisely in the interlacement of these two social facts, when analyzing the relationships between teenage pregnancy and school drop-out within a state school in the city of Alegre-ES. The speeches of adolescent students who had the experience of pregnancy were collected and analyzed, as well as those of education professionals directly involved in the daily lives of these adolescents. The analysis of this material focused on understanding the role of these professionals, especially in the process of teaching sex education and in the treatment given to adolescent students who experienced the phenomenon. The theoretical framework used is based on authors who work with critical theory, such as Frigotto (2010), Patto (2015), Arroyo (2010) and Freire's humanism (FREIRE, 1987, 2014). The research is based on a qualitative approach of the case study type in face of the singularity of the researched social reality, that is, the student context of a state public school and, especially, the phenomena of early pregnancy and school drop-out as configurators of the investigated systemic unit. Data processing was carried out through the French school discourse analysis, since the information obtained from the main subjects of the present research (adolescent students who had a pregnancy experience) must be appreciated beyond the simple content of their speeches. In short, the significant influence of early pregnancy on school drop-out was found in the researched reality. In addition, the reality of these adolescent mothers was unveiled, all black or brown, members of the lower social classes, living in a situation of discrimination, invisibility and violation of their fundamental rights. Finally, it became clear that the school needs to work more broadly on sex education and to implement a policy to assist pregnant students.