Val's Day: Young People and Sexual Awareness

 

If you are a parent or guardian and a staunch believer of the ideology that your child or the young person in your care is too young to know about sex, is not aware of sexual attractions, can never be actively engaging in or considering indulging their raging hormones, then you will definitely believe it when I say that fishes no longer need water to survive. The thing about fishes sounds ridiculous right? Without being economical with the truth, that is exactly how your belief sounds in today's world. 

As much as you might want to argue that such parents are non-existent, sadly, despite all the stories on social media surrounding young people and bad sexual choices, most parents and guardians are still like the proverbial ostrich whose head is buried in the sand. For most of them, it is; IMPOSSIBLE! NOT MY CHILD, I KNOW MY CHILD! 

On the other hand, there are parents who have been exposed to these realities but are still uncomfortable with having discussions and enlightening their children and wards about their sexual and reproductive health and how to avoid being victims of wrong choices. They feel that sex education and safe choices should be left to the Biology or science teacher. 

If you are reading this today and as a parent you are still holding onto these archaic creeds and unrealistic beliefs, then this is a wake up call. Now is the time to have that talk with your child. Be a guardian, role model or a go to daddy or mommy and not the one that inspires fear and lords it over everyone at home. Praying about these realities are great but why are you a parent if you will persistently fail at fulfilling your obligations? Why did God see you through all these challenges during your youth if you will not guide your ward with the gained experiences? 

Image by: Agung Pandit Wiguna

If you still refuse to disentangle yourself from the bondage of ignorance and counsel your child despite all my encouragement, then be aware that on Valentine’s day, not even the fact that it fell on a Sunday will stop some of our children from fulfilling their wild sexual fantasies or should I say; embracing the alluring pleasures they have been exposed to on the internet or at school.

Anyway, before I derail, this article is not directed at parents or guardians. It is basically for young people. As such, I am here to remind you; the youths of our great nation, that sexual and reproductive health challenges such as HIV and AIDs, Hepatitis B, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI's), health challenges resulting from unsafe abortions, Covid-19 virus and other sexual and reproductive health infections are still with us.

Yeah, Nikky is a party pooper...lol! Actually, I care about you and your health. 

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