The Sex game and the teenage African Child - FELIX'S CORNER

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15 January 2014

The Sex game and the teenage African Child






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.

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