Gaborone teenagers group sex – continued
Having the ‘birds and bees’ talk with your children may be uncomfortable and embarrassing, but it is possibly one of the most life affirming tasks for parents in the modern world.
Traditionally, sex talk, particularly among children and adults, is considered a taboo. However, it is becoming imperative for children to be equipped with information on sexual matters considering the influx of sex in the media and widespread sex-related crimes like rape and molestation. According to Professor Tapologo Maundeni, from the University of Botswana’s Department of Social Work, it is high time parents start discussing matters related to sex with their children. She said absence of parental communication is the reason children go astray and engage in underage sex.
Last week, after going undercover into one of the two Gaborone yards where teenagers are known to engage in group sex, we chronicled in detail what goes on inside these compounds, with sexual escapades exchanged indiscriminately among children aged between 16 and 19. The children easily lie to their parents about their whereabouts. Maundeni noted that the challenge has been that parents just raise children and do not bond with them, adding that some parents do not spend quality time with their children.
“Even during dinner, you may find that the children and parents are in separate rooms, or they are putting on earphones. We are just too busy for our children and it is working against us,” she said. She added that a lot of the time, parents only show interest in their children when they ask about their homework and even then, they scold them. Maundeni pointed out that there is minimal or zero effort when it comes to discussing sex with children.
“We only tell them that sex is for married people, or only discuss it with them when they start having menstruation because we fear that they will fall pregnant or impregnate someone,” she said.
Her observation is that due to the communication gap, teenagers choose to run to the media and peers to learn about sexuality. She said that some children are still not comfortable with discussing sex, even at school. “But it is time to join our hands as churches, parents, Kgotlas and every other system, and teach our children about sexuality transparently,” she said.
She emphasised that failure to engage these children in honest sex talk will lead to teenage pregnancies, abortion, resistance to marriage, intergenerational relationships and the infection of HIV and other sexually transmitted illnesses. Meanwhile, Botswana Police Service Assistant Commissioner Witness Bosija said they were still investigating the teenage sex orgies matter.