The Study of Baby Dumping Among Teenagers

Abstract

Baby Dumping cases are not common in Malaysia. On the 3rd of August 2019 the minister of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said that from 2010 to May 2019, there were a total of 1, 010 recorded cases of baby dumping. She added that from the 1010 cases, 64% of the babies were found dead. Baby dumping has been on the rise through the years and the factors of them doing such act still stays diminished. Thus, this study is conducted to identify the main factors and opinion of the public on baby dumping especially among teenagers in Malaysia

Introduction

Baby dumping is an act of irresponsible and inhumane humans dumping their babies younger than 12 months in private or public places with the intent of not caring for the child (Wan, Oct 2010 ). Dumping of babies is not something new to be heard. Western anthropologists mentioned the case of Prophet Musa who was found in a basket at the edge of the Nile River (Brick, 2000; Mohd, 2008). This is proof showing that the dumping of babies is occurring for ages. This issue has become a pressing dilemma that causes the social problem in Malaysia as the case of dumping babies are drastically increasing year by year among teenagers.

This happens because of teenagers who lack moral values, as they have unprotected sex before marriage without any planning, prostitution, and also unreported rape cases (M Abeid, March ‎2014). Sex before marriage usually leads due to the romantic relationship that teenagers used to have nowadays. Dumping of babies happens when the teenagers feel pressure as they think that the baby might become a burden for them as they are not ready to become a father or mother to the baby (Zaherawati, 17 November 2018 ). They think immaturely and unable to make a correct decision as they think the best solution would be throwing the baby away as they might get rejections from their family members (Nazni, November 2018 ). It is common to see babies being thrown in dustbins, wrapped in newspapers, and kept under the scorching sun (Termizi et al.,2014). A baby that is dumped in the mosque or motherless baby's home has a greater chance of survival than a baby dumped inside dustbin or left under harsh beating sun or left bitten by ants ( New Straits Times, 18 July 2010.).

Religious Perspective of Baby Dumping

A child is a priceless gift presented by the creator. A baby who is dumped is al-tift al-laqit in Arabic word ( Al-Suhail, 2005). In Qur'an, it has stated some incidences of dumping. The Qur'an mentions the story of Prophet Yusuf who was dumped into a well by his siblings (Qur'an, Yusuf, 12:10). However, the case of Yusuf is slightly different from our topic since he was grown up and the crime was done by his brothers out of jealousy (Mohd, 2008). Similarly, the Qur'an also mentions the story of Prophet Musa (a.s.) (when he was a baby) whose mother was inspired by Allah the Almighty to put him in a basket and dumped him into the river. The basket was, later on, picked up by the Pharaoh's servant (Qur'an, Taha, 20: 38-39; Qur'an, Qasas 28: 7-8).In Surah Al-Isra'verse 32 which Allah says 'Do not Approach adultery. fornication is indeed an abomination and an evil way.' Which means as a Muslim we must avoid being involved in issues like free sex, baby dumping, rape, abuse, child abuse, drinking alcohol, domestic violence, etc. Recently the issue of baby dumping has exceeded the norms of humanity and doesn't reflect the humanity of Malaysian who have Asian values and teachings of Islam. From the headlines and newspaper frontpages to mouth of word its obvious that this problem has been growing among the next generation of this country and one of the main reasons are lacking of religious beliefs. In the Islamic perspective free sex which is a one of the main reasons of baby dumping among teenager is contrary to the teachings of Islam which is one of the main moralities in Islam. The problem originates from a universal perspective of such acts especially the norms from the western and European countries. Furthermore, nowadays teenager is free to roam without their parents control regardless of the time they come back home and where they go. Girls are guys are allowed to being friends however they should know their limits on being friends with their opposite gender. Islam teaches the do's and don't 'in the relationship between a girl and a boy so that there will be no any misconduct occurs. For instance, a girl is told not to wear revealing clothes that exposes certain parts of body so that I wont rise the boy's lust and desire to explore the body parts of the girl. In addition of free sex being obligated and is against the 'Honor' code in Islam which Islam emphasizes in Muslims. Abortion is also goes against the beliefs because it's an act of taking a life which equates to murder.

Free Sex Implication Awareness

The percentage of unmarried young Malaysian aged 13 to 24 years who engaged in in sexual activity rose from 2% in 2004 to 4.8% in 2014.According to the Ministry of health data from 2015 (Teen Pregnancy Data Manual) 28.8% of 13,831 teenagers aged between 10 and 19 years have conceived children out of wedlock. Thus, the statistics proves that free sex among teenagers has been out of control in recent years. One of the main problems with teenager and having free sex with their partners and significant is not having marriage as their life goal in their relationship and denying sex or using birth control. This shows the teenagers have low awareness of having sex unprotected which leads to baby dumping. Teenage girls should be aware of their themselves and that their body is from themselves and no one has the right to touch it without their permission. Other factors include the abandonment of their sexual partner who abandons mothers and doesn't compromise in using protections. This puts peer pressure on young unexperienced mothers.

Methodology

Internet Research

We found a few online articles using the Google search engine. The Internet is one of the best and most efficient place to obtain information. This is because many certified researches, articles and journals is found in it for the use of the public. We used the articles and case studies found online as reference for us.

Survey Research

We used the Google Form medium as our survey form. Then, we forwarded the Google Form to students in Universiti Malaysia Pahang(UMP) to answer this survey. This survey consists of questions which relates baby dumping to religion, main factors of baby dumping and the seriousness of baby dumping cases in Malaysia. This survey was mainly done to get to know the opinions of the fellow UMP students' on baby dumping cases in Malaysia.