Parents advocate early sex education for kids

sex-education

Some parents in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have recommended sex education for children between the ages of five and 10 years to ensure they learn from the right sources.

A cross section of parents on Thursday said children these days were fast learners and could learn the wrong things if not exposed to sex education at a tender age.

Mr Emmanuel Leramoh, a public servant with Supreme Court, said he would start teaching his daughter who is presently three years sex education at the age of nine.

Leramoh said at the age of nine, his daughter would have started developing some features as a girl.
“It is better to teach her at the age of nine when she would have started developing as a woman.

“Although there are some things that I need to start telling her even before she gets to that age, but the actual time to fully educate her is when she clocks nine years,” he said.

Mrs Harriet Osenyi, a textile dealer, said that learning and teaching was a continuous process but she would officially give sex education to her kids at the age of ten.

Osenyi added that it was the period most children gain admission to secondary schools and got exposed to the larger society different from the primary school environment.

“At the age of ten, the children are entering secondary school and they mix up with other children from different backgrounds.

“That is the right time to tell them what is obtainable in the larger society and the implication of their actions,” Osenyi said.

Florence Nnaji, a foodstuff vendor in Kubwa metropolis said it was challenging to train children nowadays with the current exposure to adult contents on the internet.

Nnaji, however, said she would try to teach the best she could, in spite of the worrisome trend of peer influence.

“These days internet facility is everywhere and these children see a lot of things that we the parents don’t even have access to.

“It is always better to start teaching them at least from the age of five because at that stage they are already inquisitive about the opposite sex.

“Back in the days, there were inaccessible internet services to the average person, so it was hard to see children with mobile phones and gadgets.

“It was easier for parents in those days to monitor what their children do and the level of vices in the society was minimal,” she said.

Nnaji, however, cautioned parents on exhibiting negative attitude around the kids as they were bound to learn from their “role models’’.

Mr Stanley Lucas, a Guidance Counselor with Junior Secondary School Dutse said children should be exposed to sex education once they began to differentiate the good from the bad.

“Sex education is not something to keep from a child till the age you feel like, especially in this jet age when they can access so many things on the internet.

“As soon as the child knows what is good and bad, then sex education is required.
“The moment they start playing with the male counterparts, don’t hesitate to give sex education because while waiting till they get older, you don’t know what they do while playing in your absence.

“It is also important that once they start asking strange questions parents should give the correct response and not distort the facts,” Lucas said.

The counselor further advised parents to give their wards and children a very good moral upbringing to guide them early in life.