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Lesson of the Day: ‘In Nepal and Across the World, Child Marriage Is Rising’ - The New York Times

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In this lesson, students will examine the causes and consequences of child marriage. Then they will consider how best to inform and educate others.

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

Featured Article: “In Nepal and Across the World, Child Marriage Is Rising” by Bhadra Sharma and Jeffrey Gettleman

Child marriage is increasing at alarming levels in many places across the globe as the coronavirus pandemic is reversing years of hard-earned progress toward keeping young women in school. In a report released on March 8, the United Nations Children’s Fund predicted that an additional 10 million girls this decade would be at risk of child marriage, defined as a union before the age of 18. “Covid-19 has made an already difficult situation for millions of girls even worse,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF’s executive director.

In this lesson, you will explore the causes and consequences of child marriage and why it is on the rise during the pandemic. In a Going Further activity, you will conduct additional research and consider ways to best inform and educate others.

What do you already know about child marriage? Why do you think the coronavirus pandemic might be leading to a surge in child marriage rates?

Before reading the article, look at the statistics below, capturing the scale and scope of child marriage across the globe. According to UNICEF:

12 million girls marry before the age of 18 every year.

Globally 1 in 5 young women were married before their 18th birthday.

Over 650 million women alive today were married as children.

Pregnancy complications and childbirth are the leading cause of death in girls aged 15 to 19 in developing countries.

The Covid-19 pandemic is profoundly affecting the everyday lives of girls, increasing the likelihood of child marriage. Over the next decade, up to 10 million more girls will be at risk of becoming child brides as a result of the pandemic.

Then, reflect on the data using the prompts below:

  • Which statistic stood out to you most and why?

  • What more do you want to know about child marriage?

  • What does reading the statistics make you think or feel?

  • Using what you already know about child marriage, what do you think might be some of the reasons it is on the rise during the pandemic?

Read the article, then answer the following questions:

1. The article begins with the story of Sapana, 17, who lives in a small town in Nepal. What does her story illustrate about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and child marriage? How has the pandemic “intensified the factors that drive child marriage,” according to the article?

2. How has the pandemic affected Nepal, one of Asia’s poorest nations? Cite two ways described in the article and explain how they are connected to the rise in child marriage in this small country. What other countries have seen surges in child marriage?

3. What are some of the negative consequences of child marriage? Give at least two.

4. What are some of the challenges facing activists, like Hira Khatri, an anti-child-marriage activist, during the pandemic? Why is child marriage prevalent in Nepal even though the legal age for marriage is 20?

5. Why did Sapana’s father, Ram Dayal, consent to her marriage despite initially not being happy that his daughter was marrying so young? What do some people in Nepal see as the benefits of child marriage?

6. What new ideas and perspectives did you learn about child marriage by reading the article that the statistics in the warm-up activity were not able to capture? What in the article was most memorable, surprising or affecting? What questions do you still have about child marriage in Nepal and across the world?

Option 1: Learn more about child marriage across the globe.

While nearly all of the world’s countries have legal minimum age requirements to protect children from child marriages, at least 117 of these countries, including the United States, still allow children to marry, according to a 2016 survey by the Pew Research Center.

What more do you want to learn about child marriage in the U.S., in Nepal or around the world? What questions do you still have about its persistence and recent rise?

First, pose a question you would like to know the answer to, such as:

  • What are the physical, social and emotional effects of child marriage on girls and young women? What are the long-term impacts?

  • How do different places — municipalities, states or countries — define being a child? How do these differences affect the perpetuation of child marriage?

  • How do crises (like the pandemic) or conflicts (like war) intensify the risk of early marriage for girls?

  • What is being done to reduce or prevent child marriage?

Then, see what you can discover through research. One place to start is by reading these articles and Opinion pieces in The New York Times:

Or, you might explore these resources from beyond The Times:

Finally, report back to your class about what you learned. Did you find answers to your question? How did what you learned add to or challenge your understanding and perspective? What additional questions do you now have?

Option 2: Inform and educate others.

How can you inform others about what you learned from the article and your research? Here are several creative projects you might complete, with the goal of spreading awareness about the global child marriage crisis:

  • You might use statistics to create an infographic to show the scale and impact of child marriage globally. For example, you might include the number of child brides each year or the number of girls at risk over the next decade because of the pandemic. You don’t need to include every statistic, just those you think are most important. You can design your work on paper or consider using a free program like Venngage to produce your designs. Use open-source images or create graphics that help get your point across, but be sure to cite all the sources you use.

  • Or you can create a public service announcement using photographs from the articles above, along with text, statistics and music. You might consider storyboarding your public service announcement, and if you have time, record, edit and share it with your class and school. Scholastic provides some useful tips and a sample P.S.A. storyboard.

  • You can write an editorial to be published in your school or local newspaper — or to submit in our annual Editorial Contest. Look at our 2021 Student Editorial Contest for editorial writing resources and read some of the 2020 winning entries for inspiration. You can also watch our three-minute video, “How to Write an Editorial,” for guidance.

  • You can create an Instagram post using a website like Canva. Your post should outline the problem, causes, effects, and possible solutions and recommendations for action. You can look at some of the examples from this article, “Swipe-Through Activist Guides Are the New Zines,” to see how activists are using Instagram to educate and create change.

Whatever option you choose, be sure to consider the following questions: Who would be your target audience — parents, teenagers, politicians or the general public? What message do you want to convey? What actions would you want your audience to take? What kind of language, images and graphics will grab their attention?

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• Find all our Lessons of the Day in this column.
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Lesson of the Day: ‘In Nepal and Across the World, Child Marriage Is Rising’ - The New York Times
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