Right to Sexual and Reproductive Health Education 2016 resentment towards children for the opportunities lost. Many among the participants believed that education will serve to strengthen a marriage as they believed that educated parents would know how to bring up their children better. However, there were few participants who felt that education was not really necessary to lead a happy married life. Apart from this, participants stated that marrying at a younger age would lead to higher divorce rates as they believed that most youngsters frequently changed partners and lacked the mindset necessary to be committed to one partner. Furthermore, many parents from the FGDs were of the opinion that young couples would lack the necessary patience, fortitude and awareness required to sustain a marriage. However, there were a few participants who disagreed with these views. In their counter arguments they stated that if the couple were mature, independent and have planned and prepared for a married life, then it would not be a problem. For some participants, the argument was based on the success stories of their parent’s marriage or other examples from society. Additionally, some participants noted that the trend of marrying young is a common occurrence in many of the islands throughout the Maldives and is one trend that had made a comeback in the recent times. The supporters of this trend believe that an early marriage is better than prolonging an ‘illicit relationship’ which may have even more unpleasant consequences. Among these participants there were those who stated that an early marriage is acceptable especially if the couple have been in the relationship for a long time. Participants from the student and youth FGs drew attention to the values and beliefs of their parents who encouraged marriage at a younger age, specifically 61 THEMATIC ANALYSIS