Awareness Tips For Children’s Sex Education (Part One)

There are lots of parents and guardians out there who find it very easy to discuss any topic or subject with their children except the one that borders on sex education. A simple question such as “what is sex”? will make an average mother or father feel uncomfortable. But it certainly needs not be. There is a lot of embarrassment regarding the theme of sex in the African culture. The media paints perverted image as to what sex should be like, while worship centers hardly ever say a word.
Sex is God’s concept! When God stated: “Be fruitful and multiply”, he was providing us a sex drive. It is high time the church spoke up regarding God’s mind on sex and builds up a healthier sexual culture, smashing the rubbish of the culture of shame that has been created over the years.
There are few practical tips for educating your children on the subject of sex.
Celebrate Sexuality:
Children must be told that sex is God’s idea, talked about throughout the Bible. He made it to be beautiful and desirable. In Proverbs 5:18-19 it says, “let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you, rejoice in the wife of your youth, she is a loving deer, a graceful doe, let her breast satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. Beautiful sex is something that should be celebrated not hidden.
Teach children the power of sacrifice
The goal of a healthy sexual culture is not to get rid of the desire for sex, rather, to manage appetite for it.
They must be made to understand that by saying ‘no’ to temptation, they are saying it to a better future. The value of their virginity is in the battle it takes to keep it. It gives them something valuable, that they have had to sacrifice and fight for, to give away to the one that they love on their honeymoon night.
Teach Them To Manage Their Desires From Young Age:
This principle begins when they are young! Let’s talk about how young children cry out for candy bars. We can teach them to manage this desire by telling them that they need to wait till after dinner to have candy. This trains them in gratification delay, so that when they are older they have already learned how to wait for good things.
We cannot always get what we want when we want it and every child needs to learn this lesson from a young age. It will really help them to manage their sexual appetite when they are older.
Punish Them To Purity
We cannot create positivity by enforcing a bunch of negativity. In other words, we cannot just motivate our children into purity by saying, “Don’t have sex because you could get pregnant”. Rather, release and empower your children into fighting for their purity. Paint a picture and give them a vision of the importance of waiting so that they are motivated by a strong “yes” to something beautiful instead of a weak “no” to temptation that is motivated by fear. Instead of motivating to punishment and shame, assist them make battle plans and always back them up in keeping it.
And here is the kicker if they fail: God can restore anything even your child’s sexuality.
Enebechi is an intern with The Tide Newspaper.

Esther Enebechi