Sex Education in the Family

Our sexuality is the very basic dimension of our personhood, our self-knowledge and expression, of our way of being in the world as male and female. Human sexuality includes sex and relates to our genital system. Sex is an indispensable drive in man. Sex is the source of the biological, Psychological and spiritual characteristics, which makes a person male or female, and which thus has a considerable influence on each individual's progress towards maturity and membership of society. When human sexuality is lopsided, an individual is most to be pitied. Worst still in the society where such an individual dwells.

Youths and Sexual Challenges

The sexual pressure on today's youth explains one of the reasons for the high rate of sexual promiscuity among youths. Beyond doubt, we are living in a critical time. Sequel to this, added sexual pressure has been placed on youths, pressures different from that faced by previous generations. Youths of today are getting more harassed sexually than ever. The youths are advised to abstain from pre-marital sex, and simultaneously, they are encouraged to play safe or keep to one sex partner. Almost every programmed and advertisement on the media employs provocative sexual imagery to draw patronage to commercial products and services. Consequent upon these pressures, many youths have sunk in the mud.

The Adolescence Phase

Adolescence is the stage of life between adulthood and childhood. It can be a wonderful period of life it can also be a tumultuous period of life that can be fraught with feelings of awkwardness, anxiety, and confusion. The stage of adolescence is the onset of puberty. According to Sigmund Freud: Puberty for boys starts around the age of twelve or thirteen, slightly later than the girls. Puberty begins with an increase in hormone levels, notably estrogen in girls and progesterone in boys. During the process of puberty, changes take place in the body of the adolescent to prepare him or her for sexual activities. The process of puberty takes years to complete, and it affects more than just the development of the reproductive organs of the adolescent but also of the psychological and social disposition.

As the reproductive organs develop, the mind of adolescent also gets awakened. The adolescent also begins to take interest in the opposite sex, writes and receives love letters, being infatuated with or falling in love with the opposite sex. As a result, many adolescent s have become pre-occupied pornographic and obscene materials. Consequently, many have been compelled to explore and "taste" sex at all cost without knowing and considering its effects.

The Lack of Sex Education in the Families: Consequences

Lack of sex education in families has several physical, psychological and social negative consequences on youths. In many families, if a child mentions the word “sex” the child has committed a taboo that can only be propitiated by spanking. However, the sexual problems faced by many youths today have proved that violent reaction of parents or guardians towards adolescents in matters concerning human sexuality is an impediment to a balanced sexuality. As a result of lack of sex education, the number of teenage pregnancies, people living with several sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), abortion, sterility, unmarried but aging young men and women, divorce, and bastards on our streets is in the increase. Lack of sex education in families also leads to inferiority complex, which in turn leads to evil like rape, masturbation, and same sex.

Sex Education: A Requisite in Families

Education according to “Socrates”, should make a man a better citizen and thereby a happy individual. The importance of sex education in the family is for the development of the human person and not the reverse. Parents and guardians are thereby urged respond with immediate alacrity to this clarion call to the development of the human person.

Parents and guardian are obliged to give right information and the ideal of sex to the youth. They are to help them put into practice through free decision the ideals proposed in sex education. Through sex education, they are to prepare adolescents for the problematic phase of puberty. They should inculcate in young persons self control and the moral values for a healthy chaste life. They should emphasize the super natural as well as the natural virtues in the course of their instructions. However, it is important for parents and guardian to realize that the necessity of sex education in families does not permit them to give more information than the child can accommodate at a particular age.

Conclusion

The lack of sex education in families contributes to the abuse of human sexuality. Our youths are going astray loosing sense of chastity because they lack the appropriate information about sex. Parents and guardian are thereby obliged to help the young ones in becoming aware of the nature of their sexuality by inculcating in them the ideals of human life, of human sexuality from which they can draw motivation for growth and perfection. I firmly believe that a positive response to this invitation will go a long way in rejuvenating morality in our society.