Recent and older situations in the country we live in and our world at large has shown the great importance of sexual education.
Sex education is the knowledge provided about body development, sexuality, sexual relationships, and everything related to helping young people in most cases to communicate sexually related matters and help them make educated choices and decisions about their sexual well-being.
It includes every question young children and adults have to ask about puberty, their reproductive organs, sexual assault prevention, abstinence from sex, gender, and sexual orientation that can be well understood by the party.
In some places, sexual education is still kicked against because children are not mature enough to make decisions in some cases. But children must be educated about sex so they can prevent violence in sexuality. This isn’t only limited to female children but the male child is also entitled to sex education.
Many young people approach adulthood with confusion and negative education about sexuality and it could even get worse when adults shy away from discussing sexual matters with them.
The World Health Organization (WHO) refers to an adolescent as any person between the ages of 10-19 and youth as people between the age of 15-24. According to research, evidence has proved that sexual education helps children and adolescents to grow the right and correct knowledge, values, and respect for their sexuality and it helps them in keeping a safe and healthy relationship when the time comes.
There is a statistic that shows the sexual activities and knowledge among young people in 2018, it was scary that women between the ages of 25-59 had a first sexual encounter at the median age of 17.2 compared to 21.7 for men. This is just one of the many statistics related to sexual education.
Now to talk about the facts, myths, and constraints against sexual education majorly in Africa and then the world at large.
In most countries, especially African countries, sex, and sexuality are hidden from the public and young children. Most teenagers don’t know anything about sex and they end up finding out either by assault or violence. It’s mostly forbidden to talk about boy-girl relationships and sex which hasn’t helped in the fight against sexual assault.
Here are a few reasons why sex education is forbidden in some places
1. It could lead to promiscuity among teenagers
Most African parents are fearful of this and that’s why they don’t educate their children about sex. But according to research from a WHO study, there’s a reduced rate of sexual activities in places where sex education programs have been incorporated to teach young people abstinence and sexual health.
2. The belief that young people are taught sexual intercourse
A lot of parents and guardians have thought sex education to be a program that talks about people having self and they refuse to embrace the education to reduce the rate of sexual violence and assault. Sex education is a program inclusive of topics that help to enlighten young people about how to safeguard themselves until they are married to become sexually active.
3. They believe the education programs do not promote abstinence
This is another key reason why parents stop their children from gaining sexual knowledge, but comprehensive sexual education programs always stress abstinence as a way to avoid unplanned pregnancies, all forms of STIs, and even HIV/AIDS. These programs have proven to be more helpful in helping young adults stay sexually safe and abstain than ignorance about sexuality as a whole.
Another key problem in sexual education is the parent-child community about sex and sexual knowledge.
Beliefs and cultural backgrounds in most African countries have disallowed young children and adults to get enough correct sexual knowledge from their parents. Parents are expected to build a bond of trust with their kids to help them navigate and stop even the lowest form of sexual abuse, instead, they shy away from the topic and keep their children in the dark.
Some parents even discuss it with their children but they tell them only about the bad and unpleasant sexual education. They use this deception to put fear in their children and it may affect them in the future if they keep seeing fear as a frightening act. This form of sexual communication misinforms children and they wallow in half-truths and they may even be tempted to believe the lies their peer groups tell them.
Importance of Sex education
You can’t stop teenagers from feeling the changes and developments in their bodies, but what you can do is properly educate them with the right knowledge about sex. So they know what is good and bad and they can easily communicate with either parents or guardians in case of sexual abuse.
Here are a few importance of sexual education
1. Sex education is capable of helping young adults understand and can improve their attitudes about sexual and reproductive health.
2. In cases of school-based sex education programs, the engagement of parents, teachers, and organizations that work in the line with sexual education, a great impact is recorded on the children.
3. Sex education doesn’t increase the number of sexual activities or behavior of young children and adults. They are all victims of whatever choice they make, this education will help them make the right decisions.
4. Most teenagers lack the necessary communication skills to talk about sex or restrict sexual provocation from people. Having comprehensive sex education will help them understand consent, abuse, acceptance, and a lot more.
Sexual education in itself is not a bad program, it’s the decisions children, parents and young adults make that matter concerning sexual health and violence.
Encourage correct sex education today, and help your children to understand that it’s not a bad thing to know. Help them understand and make the right sexual health choices. Educating children about sexual health should be encouraged to help young adults and children stand wholesomely in the right decisions.
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