4 Reasons to Teach Sex Education at Home
Sex education is becoming a very critical issue in the
Nigerian society. The problem with sex education, however, has a lot to do with diverse views and
orientations with regard to teaching sexuality to children at what some consider a very
tender age. Some have advocated against it saying that it such heinous idea stems from a Western
influence and called it ‘non-Africa’. This comes from the idea that our 'African nature' does not permit us to mention some parts of the body or human
activities we consider sacred e.g. sex and genitalia.
It may sound very loose to call these things in their English
expression but when they are brought near to our indigenous languages, the African person sees it as abnormal and utterly unacceptable to mention them let alone
mentioning them to kids. I could remember how my elder sister looked at me when
I tried to inquire about the process of 'making babies.'
Read also: Basic Safety Rules at Home for Children
However, statistics and studies have shown that the cyberspace has made this knowledge easily accessible to children so
much so that they just need their handy to access the most sacred and
intimate union that leads to pregnancy, popularly termed ‘pornography'. Could it
be that most children fell into pornography because of the laxity of parents to
disclose these things in a more parental manner? In this post, I will like to state some reasons why we
should start teaching sex education at home.
Reason 1: Sex is no more a clandestine phenomenon
You may be the most deceived of parents to think
that your adolescent child has no idea of sex is all about unless such a
child is mentally deranged. No matter how much you protect them, they have there ways of filtering answers from the society e.g. internet, friends, peers, books, name them. Unfortunately, most of these media do not do any good to the
psychological maturity of the consumer and as such your child is at the risk of consuming uncensored garbage.
Isn’t it better that you do this yourself, knowing well the level of your child’s
development?
Reason 2: Every healthy child has natural inquisitiveness to sex
When a child enters adolescence, with the different
changes and developments s/he experiences, it is very natural that s/he start
asking questions concerning those changes. Don’t think that your child is draining down to immoral if s/he start asking some of these questions, they are natural. Mind you, no matter how much you scold them, they will never stop
searching for answers. So, I will not advise you to leave her at the mercy of
some external factors that are readily waiting to give the answers to them.
Reason 3: it is the moment you communicate your family values
When your teenage child comes up with this issue, don’t
give him cold shoulder, see it as an opportunity to communicate with the child
concerning the values of the family with regard to sex and sexuality. For instance,
this is the moment you tell your child that your family believes in sex only
after marriage. If this doesn’t come up, your child will remain ignorant of these
things and your precious family values may be lost to your generation.
Reason 4: Give your child a matured outlook towards sex
It is no news
that some adults have this distorted
outlook towards sex. It's such a shame that some ladies consider their bodies as assets to get whatever they want. This has a lot to do with the
negligence on the part of parents to tell their children about the dignity of their body. Sex
education grants parents this opportunity to communicate the right moral and
outlook towards sex. They should neither fear sex as something vile nor take it
as child’s play.
Sex education is very crucial in our society that is
seriously facing great moral decadent. There is no way we can solve this other
than grass-root education which boils down to parents in the families. Raise a
child with moral rectitude and enjoy a lifetime of happiness. What is your
opinion about this? Do you have any reason for or against teaching sex
education at home?
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