Use time saved by the ban on preps for CSE

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is vital for adolescents and young people. It enhances young people’s sexual and reproductive well-being.

It also has a vast potential to enable them to develop accurate and age-appropriate sexual knowledge and improve attitudes, skills, values, intentions and behaviours that contribute to safe, healthy, positive and gender-equitable relationships. 

Despite the growing need for CSE among adolescents and young people, there is a huge gap between political frameworks and authentic implementation. This demographic is eager to learn about sex and they have a right to accurate information. With the growing technology, they go to the extent of searching for inappropriate content online.

Technology has seen an increase in online abusers. There has been a trend of young people sending or receiving nude pictures of themselves or the other party, or “sexting”. Although this is not the only reason youth use technology, such exposure can increase their online sexual abuse. Yet some might actually be looking for health information they couldn’t get from their parents or teachers.

Sexuality is a fundamental human characteristic surrounding sexual behaviours, gender identities, sexual orientations, eroticism and reproduction.

Health realisation

CSE is aimed at ensuring adolescents and young people realise their health, well-being and dignity; advance respectful social and sexual relationships; become considerate of how their choices affect their own well-being and that of others; and be able to demand and protect their rights.

Public health issues, particularly unplanned pregnancy and the increased HIV prevalence rates, are at stake. Over the past years, we have seen the trends, with the recent results shocking. Kenyans pretend that adolescents and young people do not engage in sex.

That’s precisely why parents because they don’t want their children to be promiscuous, avoid talking to them about their sexuality and provide them with accurate information and counselling when they start going astray. 

We need to face the truth lest we remain with a broken generation. CSE provides approaches for sexual risk prevention, including encouraging abstinence, promoting delayed intercourse, use of contraception, equal consent, fewer partners and testing. Parents and teachers should take action to ensure adolescents and young people don’t drown in the advancing technology and experiment due to exposure to online perpetrators. 

CSE can be taught in schools to replace morning and late evening preps banned by Education CS Ezekiel Machogu. Parents should also set aside a few minutes daily to listen and speak to their children to ensure they don’t fall into the hands of the hungry perpetrators, both online and offline.

Parents and teachers should be trained to effectively deliver CSE in a safe, healthy and supportive learning environment. CSE is tailored to reflect the unique needs and realities of adolescents and young people and, therefore, can be provided in a school set-up, in an open space or even at home.

Ms Kathia, communications consultant, is a sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) youth advocate. [email protected].