The National Population Commission (NPC), Enugu State, has appealed to parents in the state to give thorough sex education to their wards , particularly the female children to reduce the alarming rate of teenage pregnancy and its consequencies in the society.
The State Director of NPC, Mrs. Ngozi Ethel Onyia, who made the appeal today while briefing journalists as part of the activities to mark the commemoration of the 2013 World Population Day in Enugu, said that parents should not shy away from educating their children on the issue of sex. She said where parents failed to teach their wards about sex, the children could go to the wrong persons to get such learning, and might end up getting the wrong teaching.
"Is very important that parents in Enugu state should attempt to educate their female children on the issue of sex. When you don't teach them , they learn from the wrong people and the wrong people might not tell them what they ought to know. But the parent is the best person to educate the child on this issue of sex," Mrs. Onyia said. Adding: "We know that parents most often, don't want to discuss the issue of sex but we feel that they should do that; and in Enugu state, I know that the education sector has incorporated sex education in the school curriculum. So they teach them about sex education."
According to her, "We know that the family is the first agent of socialisation. So we the parents should talk about sex to our children," adding that the implications of early sex and teenage pregnancies included but not limited to withdrawal from school, infection with sexually transmitted diseases, infertility, infant and maternal motality in the society. "If they hear from their mother, it is better," she remarked.
She said that the state commission was much concerned about the issue of early sex and teenage pregnancy with the attendant adverse effects both on the teenagers and the larger society. The theme of this year's World Population Day is " Adolescent Pregnancy".
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