Expert Calls For Parent-Child Communication On ARH

The Executive Director of Public Health Impact Research Centre (PHIRC), Dr. Mininim Oseji has called for improved parent-child communication on Adolescent Reproductive Health in order to guide young people to make safe choices about their health and well-being.

Speaking during an exclusive interview with The Tide recently the Executive Director of PHIRC said that studies carried out by her organisation had shown that consistent and emotional communications with young people help them feel safe and secure as well as allowing them to develop the resiliency needed to manage challenges in their lives.

Parents and teenagers do not seem to think the same way and this will invariably generate conflicts adding that both groups must be empowered to communicate adequately.

Dr. Oseji attributed some of the barriers of parent-child communication to fear, religious taboos which consider issues of sexuality as sinful and disharmony among parents.

In outlining some of the possible outcome of poor parent-child communication, she said it is misinformation from peer misunderstanding resulting in unhappiness, feeling of rejection leading to dejection and lack of trust and confidence.

The Executive Director further stated that parent-child communication can be improved if only parents can accept their responsibility as the primary sexuality educators of their children, and if parent will endeavour to look out for youth friendly centres with trained counselors in adolescent reproductive health clinics to refer their adolescent for further information and interaction.