Who is afraid of sexuality education?
LAST UPDATED AT Sat Jul, 16 2011
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These days there is so much talks, discussions, symposia and meetings everywhere that centre on the sexuality and sexual behaviour of young adults and the consequences these are having on the young people themselves and on the society as a whole.

This is a good development no doubt at least it shows that public attention is being drawn to issues that border the reproductive health of adolescents and young adults in the society. It also shows that the reproductive health of young adults and adolescents in particular is on public agenda for discourse.

It also becomes a thing of particular of interest in view of the demographic strength of this age group in the Nigerian population.

From the Demographic Health Survey as well as the National Population figures, the youth or young people constitute ages 10-24 and 36.7 per cent of the Nigerian population.

And it is equally understood that this age group constitutes the bulk of people who are mostly affected by issues of sex such as early debut of sexual activities and pregnancy related issues like abortion and its complications as well as sexually related infections.

Sex education in its broad term describes education about human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and other aspects of human sexual behavior.

A psycho sociologist, Burt, defined sex education as the study of the characteristics of beings; a male and female.

Common avenues for sex education are parents or caregivers, school programmes, and public health campaigns. Such characteristics make up the person’s sexuality. Sexuality is an important aspect of the life of a human being and almost all the people including children want to know about it.

On another hand, Ikpe in 2004 explained sexuality as “the very essence of one’s humanity including one’s self-image, being male or female, physical looks and reproductive capacity; that is sexuality is a natural part of life. It is about the way we are made, how we feel about ourselves, what roles we play in the society and how we procreate”.

In 2003 when it was hottest on whether sex education or sexuality education should be taught to children at primary or secondary school levels, Action Health Incorporated, a non- governmental organisation which has been involved in works with adolescents and champion of the discourse defined sexuality education as: “a planned process of education that fosters the acquisition of factual information, the formation of positive attitudes, beliefs and values as well as the development of skills to cope with the biological, psychological, socio-cultural and spiritual aspects of human sexuality.” That is, learning about the anatomy, physiology and bio-chemistry of the sexual response system which determines identity, orientations, thoughts and feelings as influenced by values beliefs, ethics and moral concerns.

“It is the interactive relationship of these dimensions that describes an individual’s total sexuality (SIECUS, 1995). Also, sexuality education teaches us that, religious principles, beliefs, rules and regulations and ethical considerations affect our everyday interactions just as our culture, role models in our families and our friends impact us as well. Sexuality education is simply the art of learning how to conform to a certain art of living by being able to reason, examine and monitor one’self in clearly defined terms.

And in recent times, Ipas Nigeria has reiterated the need for the reversal of the trend in which the bulk of people dying as a result of ignorance about their reproductive health are young people through collaborative and concerted efforts to inform, educate and teach young people about what they need to know about their reproductive health and the rights to be protected from unwanted pregnancies.

This include basic knowledge on why abstinence from sex is key to preventing unwanted pregnancies, abortions, diseases and deaths; the need to have safe abortion laws and post abortion care and family planning methods for those who suffer injuries from unsafe abortion.

According to Country Director of Ipas-Nigeria, Dr. Ejike Oji, “There is the need to have a post-abortion family planning to ensure that women who had abortion before do not come back again.

“Safe abortion should be provided for women who have been raped or those who had infection from a relationship and when a continued pregnancy will put a woman’s life in danger.”
=================================================•Do you think sex education is unnecessary for young people? Send your response by SMS only to 08054104719 

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