The Nyamira County Coordinator of Children Services (CCCS), Sammy Korir has urged parents to partner with religious leaders this August holiday and sensitize children on matters of sexuality.
Korir observed that most parents still hold to the African culture which prohibited them from discussing on realities of sexuality with their children leaving many teenage children to seek for the information from other sources, most of them misleading.
“We need to change strategy on how to approach and teach our children on the topic of sexuality because our grandparents no longer have quality time with their grandchildren and the fast-changing lifestyles requires people who are bold enough to explain the sexuality facts in a plain and simple manner mingling it with realist and relevant illustrations,” the coordinator said.
“Parents need to partner with religious leaders who are best placed to mobilize other professionals to talk to the teenage children on how to handle themselves during their delicate adolescent stage in life when they are extremely curious on how to deal with sexual emotions which if not well handled has detrimental effects,” Korir recommended.
The CCCS said many children may not feel comfortable to discuss the sexuality topic with their parents, adding “This is the reason we advise parents to engage other trusted people to talk to their children on the same.”
“Some sexually abused or exploited children suffer in silence with no one to confide their predicament in. This is because the relationship with their parents is sour and thus they opt to pretend everything is fine. Regrettably, by the time their problem is discovered, it is too late to be rectified as the perpetrators will have disappeared,” he observed.
He encouraged parents to create time with their children during holidays in order to understand them better and meet their emotional needs before they can feel neglected and seek help from exploiters.
Korir termed rising incidents of child sexual abuse, including defilement and sodomy in the larger Gusii region as alarming and thus encouraged parents to partner with religious leaders in nurturing children.
By Deborah Bochere
