A Family Life Consultant, Catherine Onwioduokit has advised parents to pay much attention to the emotional needs of their offspring.
Catherine Onwioduokit explained that by not providing conducive environment for children, they will gravitate towards where there feel loved and accepted and end up giving in to sex.
“Just as the fishes thrives only in water and the birds only in the air, the only conducive environment for a child to grow is a loving home.
“Not just providing security and safety getting parents to realise that children have needs which may not just be physical or material but the greatest need of a child is an emotional need,” she noted in an interview on TV3, Thursday.
She emphasised that parents must at all times provide emotional attention at home for children to able to thrive in and not be lured by men.
The Family Life Consultant also urged parents to be cautious of which content they allow their children to watch on television as it can influence them.
“Parents should be careful of what they allow their children to feed their eyes on because also the influence of television, what the children are watching and wanting to practice because they are adventurous and what to see how this places out with them,” she added.
Adolescents first sex experience: More women have sex at an earlier age than men -Survey
Her advise follows the latest 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey on young people’s sexual experience of first sex which revealed that more women have sex at an earlier age compared to men.
A conversation on causes and possible implications why more girls have sex at an earlier age than boys on #TV3NewDay https://t.co/pwXbLduUqS
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The study involved 154 respondents, including 114 young women and 40 young men aged 20-49, from the Ashanti and Northern regions. It revealed a prevalence of sexual violence and coercion, particularly among young girls and women, leading to their early sexual activities.
‘‘In Ghana, high levels of sexual violence and/or coercion are common especially for young girls and women. Percentage for coercion and/or violence at the time of first sexual intercourse ranges from 14 to 18% for girls and 12% for boys. There are often multiple factors at play which motivate the first sexual experience among the respondents, one of which is to affirm love to the partner,’’ Dr. Akosua Owusu–Ansah, a senior lecturer at the University of Education Winneba said during the presentation of the report.
The Ghana Statistical Service is hopeful policy makers will use the data available to plan decisions concerning the trend in reproductive health among adolescents in the country.