As we have discussed in part 1, Sex education is very important and necessary as a child grows in which Parents have their roles to play.
How can we as parents/adults guide our children, wards and teenagers towards healthy sexual behaviours?
- Face the facts- If you imagine that your child will not feel pressured into sex, or that she or he would never give in to such pressures. hmmmm… Think again
*Help teenagers to understand the physical and emotional changes that come with the hormonal activities associated with puberty.
*Help them to anticipate internal and external pressures to have pre marital sex and to make responsible and godly decisions.
Young people needs to have information about reproduction that inter course can result in pregnancy. You need to tell them what the Bible says concerning sex and sexuality. Your child needs to understand the beauty and dignity of virginity. Give them information on sexual transmitted diseases (STDs).
Here are some insight for mothers on what to teach a pre-teen.
*Tell them God says NO to sex before marriage. 1Cor 6:18. Sex was created by God but it is only good inside a loving, committed marriage relationship. Sex outside marriage brings pain, shame, heartache. - Tell them that when one don’t involve in pre marital sex you will spare yourself the pain and grief of being used rather than been loved and accepted.
*Tell them that if they don’t involve in pre marital sex there won’t be risk of becoming pregnant. No contraceptive is 100% effective. ‘NO’ is the only proof way of avoiding unwanted pregnancy.
*Tell them the consequences of been a single mother and the joy of been able to choose to marry the person God has planned for one.
*Tell them avoiding pre marital sex reduces your risk of being infected with sexually transmitted diseases.
*Tell them to Say NO so as not to destroy their plans for the future. So they can have honour, value, respect and love.
*And lastly tell them to Say No because of those who loves them and get much respect from them. They should always think of People they can hurt. Lives are attached to them and they can’t afford to fail.
As a parent you can do this.
Don’t delay discussions about sex until you think the adolescent is involved in a relationship. Sex education that works starts early before young people reach puberty and before the have developed pattern of behaviour.
As you start don’t try to say everything at once. Providing basic information supplies the foundation on which more complex knowledge is built up overtime. This also means that sex education has to be graded.
Make discussions as informal as possible. There is less embarrassment & more impression made when discussions on sexuality are weaved into everyday conversation and incidents in the home.
Parents needs to realise that sex education has become a vital aspects of formal and informal education. We shall be discussing more practical aspects in part 3.
*Some statistics & commentaries in the article were selected from relevant books, health reports and websites.
Shalom
Wunmi Oyesanya
