People tend to shy away from anything that has got the word “sex” on it, yet when we look around there seem to be a high rise on teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS transmission & sexual violence.
Wikipedia has defined sex education as instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, emotional relations, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, the age of consent, reproductive rights, safe sex, birth control and sexual abstinence. So you see, contrary to what people think when sex education is mentioned has a totally different dimension and for lack of proper information, people tend to think that sex education encourages sex amongst young people.
We are in a digital age, children don’t play with toys anymore like they used to. These days toys come in form of electronic gadgets and some are usually connected to the internet leaving these kids with little or no supervision from an adult. We would like to think they just play games and sometimes chat with their friends, at least that is what we will like to think “putting them in a safe space” but are they really safe?
Do you know all of their online friends? What they chat about? The sites they visit when they are left unsupervised?
Sexual crimes are usually committed by someone that is very close to the victim, and they don’t just stop there they also get to add manipulation to this crime making sure they hold their victims in fear and threatening to cause harm if they (the victims) ever open up to anyone. Little wonder why most sexual assault victims, especially children don’t even know they are being assaulted and would rarely ever report to their parent, they know something isn’t right but because of the manipulation game, they tend to think they are being punished by that adult for something they did. This is where communication comes in, what level of communication do you have with your wards? Are there safe words you have created between you and them? Can they open up to you if something is wrong at home or in their school?
Sex education requires that you teach these kids that it isn’t right for anyone who is not their parent to touch certain parts of their body or to ask them to touch an adult in certain areas. By doing this they already know if an adult tries assaulting them sexually they can easily tell you what exactly the adult asked them to do. Kids grow up and they are open to a lot of things from their friends, to the internet and even their schools, as a parent or a guardian are you ensuring that your kid knows what Sexual consent is? Appropriate age to decide if they want to have sex or not? Do they know there are sexually transmitted diseases if they make the wrong choice concerning their sexual life?
It’s ok to be religious or conservative but in all of that the best you can do for a child is to ensure that they have been taught what is appropriate when it comes to sex and sexuality so when they go out their decisions aren’t based solely on peer pressure but because they know what is right and what is wrong.
Sex education is a positive tool that can help young people make informed decisions about unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted disease, changes that happen with their body and proper hygiene.
