Youth
MS Halima Layeni, the Founder, Life After Abuse Foundation, has urged parents not to shy away from teaching their adolescent girls about contraceptives and reproductive health.
Layeni, who gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos, said that sexual education was key to building resilience in adolescent girls.
She stressed that teaching adolescent girls about contraceptives and reproductive health would not make them to be promiscuous.
Layeni complained that some parents either do not like talking about sexual health with their girl-child or shy away from that responsibility; which she said was not supposed to be.
According to her, it is better that the adolescent girl gets the right information on time and from you as a parent, rather than getting it from outside probably from peers when it might be late.
“Investigations have shown that most parents shy away from this responsibility, majorly because they believe it’s absurd.
“When we teach adolescent girls about contraceptives and family planning, we are trying to give them information about sexual and reproductive health issues so that if they are sexually active they know where to go for advice.
“It is likely that most parents didn’t grow up with their parents listening to them, so, they shun off their children when they ask about sexual and reproductive health issues; which is not supposed to be so.
“When you give them the information, you give them the strength to stand in front of anybody and tell him/her the right thing to do,” Layeni said.
Layeni, who said that sexual education was paramount to the upbringing of children, particularly the girl-child, called for increased education campaigns on sexual health.
She emphasised that adolescent girls, children and teens needed good information about sex, sexual relationships, reproduction, birth control, sexually-transmitted diseases and sexual abuse.
According to her, sexual education is supposed to start at a very tender age as early as four years old once the child can be sexually molested.
She said it was the sole responsibilities of the parents to kick-start sexual health education from the homes.
“Information is power and in this high-risk day and age, adolescent girls, children and teens need all the information they can get.
“To withhold information about sex and the possibility of sexual abuse as well as information about reproduction and disease puts them at risk.
“They should have sex education and be conscious of the hazards looming in the society with the rise of perverts committing the most obscene assaults and crimes on girls and children.
“In as much as kids could end up spending more time in school amidst their teachers than they do at home with their parents, it still falls back on parents to initiate sex talks with their children, particularly the girl-child.
Layeni suggested the inclusion of sexual health education in school curriculum at all levels of education, stressing that increased education on sexuality would go a long way in curbing the menace of sexual abuse, rape and child molestation in the society. (NAN)
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-October 31, 2023 @ 15:48 GMT |
Tags: Life After Abuse Foundation Ms Halima Layeni
