Apparently,
there are many games the world speaks of.
Talk of football, baseball, race (car & horse, name them.
Conspicuously missing out of the list is the sex game. The most universally
acclaim I guess!
The beforehand
mentioned list of games…no matter how they are loved within a jurisdiction, has
gotten a boundary limitation. Cricket, no doubt is a household name in India,
but not in Ghana where I hail from. The Ghanaian, like a Brazilian will sleep
and eat football, but not the Indian.
The argument I
sought to put across is this, no matter the popularity of a particular game
within a part of the universe, there is always a limitation. But of exception is the sex game; it’s loved
by all. It knows no geographical, religious or language barrier.
Though its
popularity and acceptance have transcend all boundaries there are, it appears
to inauspiciously, in our Ghanaian and African context be the least talked and
taught on subject. Consequentially, it’s mostly us the teenagers who have
perished for our lack of knowledge about the dos and don’ts of sex.
It’s monstrous
to approach a parent with any topic pertaining to sex. Any discussion on this
rather universal game is “strictly for adults”. It’s a bedroom discussion for
“adults only”. It’s a convention for any child seen or heard engaged in any
discussion of a sort to be called a “spoilt child”. To most teenagers of such
backgrounds, it’s no surprise that the mention of such a topic creates a
seemingly unbearable discomfiture.
Funny enough,
it’s become very common to see people equate the lack of knowledge on such an
important part of our lives to holiness. The perception over the years has
been; enlightening the child on issues of sexuality means creating room for
them to engage in sex. This is only not a fallacy, but equally bespeaks how
hypocritical we’ve become; even in the most basic of things.
This has
resultantly been the wanton sexual behaviour of a teeming number of teenagers
these days. It’s a matter of satisfying their sexual curiosity. It high-time
parents identified that the current crop of teenage generation is that which
befits the description “forbidden things taste sweetest”. The more you seek to
hide things from them, the more relentless they become in knowing why the
forbiddance. Silence at such a time, coupled with the ever growing , but
inadequately regulated media will rather worsen the already worsened situation
of teenage pregnancy.
Any refusal to enlighten the teenager on
issues of sexuality is a further push for them to be taught by the media, and
probably, peers, through practical process. This means a resultant unplanned or
unwanted pregnancy, putting many at risk of maternal mortality.
It’s also an
open secret that most of these parents themselves still live in ages past.
Imagine my mom, who as taught by her grand mom, still holds on to the belief that
issues of sexuality is still a conversation for only adults. Parents of this
nature appear to even need much enlightenment themselves. This in my opinion is
a fertile ground for social groups, churches and stakeholder organisations to
educate even the adult generation on the importance of discussing sexuality with their young
ones. Education on sexuality is wholistic
(Reproductive health, fertility rate and Contraceptive usage).
Research has it
that, every day in developing countries, 20,000 adolescent girls give birth. The
global figure according to UNICEF (2009) is about 16million girls aged between
16 and 19 years. This is worrisome.
From the
foregoing, making sexuality a family discussion is the way forward. Sanctifying
such a dire basic necessity is out of place. In times past, keeping the girl
child in the classroom was in my opinion the best of options; but the recent
trend of events, where lots of our girls though in school gets impregnated and
drop out eventually debunks such an opinion.
DZIDULA JUNIOR@ www.felixscorner.blogspot.com
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