Content or not, viral video of learner ‘forced’ to take baby to school sheds light on teen pregnancy

A video of a mother telling her daughter to take her baby with her to school has garnered mixed reactions from netizens. 

In the clip, the girl is seen walking to school with the baby on her back. 

The mother is heard questioning her daughter about going to school without the baby’s bag and asking what the child would eat during the day.

“Are you already going to school? How can you go to school without the baby’s bag? What will the child eat?” the mother asks.

The teenager then pleads with her mother to look after the baby for the day, saying that the infant would cry and disrupt lessons.

“Can you please stay with the baby today only?” the teen mom asked. “The child will cry in class and disturb me.”

The mother carried on: “This is a disgrace. You can’t go like that, not even having covered the baby. Take the child’s bag. You want them to starve?”

She then reportedly told her daughter that she could not stay with the baby and that the teenager should go to school with the child’s father.

“I can’t stay with the baby. You go to school with the father. If you feel like you’re getting tired, you can hand over the baby to him in class,” she said.

Content or reality?

While some in the comments believe it was an act and made for content, others have praised the woman’s reaction. 

One of the commentators called on communities to teach daughters to preserve their virginity. 

“They should cherish and protect it above all else. This will help us avoid the tendency of our girls finishing matric already with one child, and by the time they get married, having two children from different fathers. We should also teach our sons to respect women and to understand that sex is a privilege reserved for married couples or for two responsible, consenting adults,” the commenter said. 

Another added, “I love this mama. [This is a] lesson to the ones that still haven’t here purity. Avoid sleeping around, finish school.”

Content or not, the exchange highlights the difficult reality faced by young mothers who are still expected to continue their education while caring for infants.

This week, IOL reported on an incident in the Eastern Cape’s Alfred Nzo East District where a Grade 12 learner gave birth in the school’s toilet during teaching hours. 

The newborn baby and the learner were admitted to the local hospital for medical attention. 

Earlier this year, the Cape Argus reported that in the period 2024/25, 117,195 girls aged 10–19 gave birth and emphasized the importance of children knowing they cannot legally give consent to sex at the age of 12.

In some cases, girls as young as 11-years-old were impregnated.

IOL