'Sexual Distancing' Needed? Japan High School Students Violate 'Social Distancing' As Teen Pregnancies Rise During Lockdown

Regardless of 'social distancing' measures, the coronavirus lockdown is causing an increase in Japan teen pregnancies. Do we need 'sexual distancing' too?

There is a new phrase in Japan that describes how spouses who realize they’re ready to end their marriage after spending too much time at home with their partner: "corona-rikon" or "corona-divorce". But the coronavirus pandemic is only driving grown adults emotionally apart, because it is bringing young lovers together, physically speaking.

Epic Pregnant Moments in Anime

There have been reports in Jikei Hospital of Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, that it’s been seeing an increase in the number of junior high and high school students contacting its pregnancy consultation department. During the month of April, Jikei Hospital’s pregnancy counselors dealt with more junior high/high school students than in any other month since the department was established in 2007.

Japanese high school students are finding ways to get busy under lockdown, or rather, their hormones

The hospital announced that the number of consultations from junior high and high school students was 75, the highest ever. Deputy Director Ken Hasuda, who held a press conference at the same hospital, said, “The new coronavirus has left the schools closed and the students are staying home. Among them, there are opportunities for sexual activity and cases of unwanted pregnancy.”

You would think that teens staying at home means there are fewer opportunities to mess around. After all, it's very uncommon for young people in Japan to be living in the same place as their crush, unlike anime depictions. What Dr. Ken Hasuda described sounds like the young high-schoolers, with no classes nor extracurricular activities to attend, are staying home by themselves while their parents go out for work or errands during the day.

Funniest Pregnancy Announcements

Presumably, the teens use this opportunity to see their crushes, and with no adult supervision, make themselves very comfortable, before one of them goes back home as the parents are none the wiser.

How coronavirus lockdown is improving the birthrate of Japan

In 2007, Jikei Hospital opened a department where anonymous parents can leave their children anonymously. At the same time, it set up a pregnancy counseling service that is available 24 hours a day by phone and email.

The schools in Japan are separate by sex, maybe to prevent this kind of thing?

According to the hospital, consultations from junior and senior high school students were received from all over the country. There were many queries from female students, such as "I had sexual intercourse with my partner while my parents were not at home and I got a positive pregnancy test." It was said that the boys also had consultations talking about how "there is a sickness similar to morning sickness with my partner."

サプライズ妊娠報告 奥さん側 Pregnancy surprise to my parents in Japan

According to the hospital, pregnancy consultations from junior and senior high school students increased from around March, and April saw an increase of 19 cases compared to 2019 when the school closure was continued.

Of all 592 pregnancy consultations in April, 13% were from junior and senior high school students. This is double the level of 5-7% of the average year. Only the consultants who revealed their age in detail counted as junior and senior high school students in statistics, and descriptions like "teens" were not included. The hospital thinks that "the actual percentage of middle and high school students is higher".

Parents cannot wait to send their kids back to school as soon as possible

Heightened emotions and stress during lockdowns, combined with raging hormones can create such a situation when you are living through a massive new coronavirus outbreak. A reminder that having a kid before you’re ready can leave you without a stable future, so try not to follow in these teens' footsteps!