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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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."
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".
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!
Stay tuned and check out our coronavirus section on GuruGamer.com for more news and updates on the complex developments of the dangerous new coronavirus, COVID-19.
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