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The Parental Monitoring And Religious Activities On Sexual Abstinence
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 6]
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Sexual abstinence has been seen as the only way of avoiding different
sexually transmitted diseases and, it has put in much efforts at it’s
campaign to school students, civil servants, private sectors workers and
independent workers; as to the advantages of staying away from having
sexual intercourse before marriage. This camping become enstrengthened
due to the discovery of the ubiquitous killer disease known as Acquired
Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) which has an onset of Human Immune
Virus (HIV) and, this has caused sexual activities to reduce to the
bearest minimum. Though some are still perpetrating commercial sexual
activities but, not as it used to be on the increase sometimes back. The
first cases of AIDS were identified in Uganda in the early 1990s
(Kagimu, 1996). Since then the epidemic has progressed, with an
estimated 15 – 20 million Ugandans out of a total population of 18
million HIV-positive (STD/ACP Programme, 1995). There has been several
researches carried out on sexual abstinence all over the world, and, but
of variables had been used to measure sexual abstinence. Some of which
are in-laws, literacy level, peer influence and many more but, all these
are still demanding that other variables be used to test sexual
absence.
An examination of the characteristics of
adolescent sexual behaviour shows that there are differences by gender
and socio-economic status, with males found to be sexually involved at
younger ages than females. Some studies examined the role of schooling
on adolescent sexual behaviour, and argued that in-school teenagers are
more likely to exert autonomy in deciding to engage in sexual
relationships. The role of the family as a socialization agent has also
been examined. Meeker found that in general, the social control
exercised by community elders over the fertility and sexuality of young
female has become weak due to modernization and westernization. The
Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey of 2007 reported that the median
age at first sexual intercourse for girls is just over 16 years. By age
18 and 20, 63% and approximately 80% respectively have experienced
sexual intercourse. The second phase of the survey published in 1999
reported that half of the female respondents had sexual intercourse by
age 18; about one-quarter had sex before age 15. Interesting aspect of
the report is that, men are exposed to sexual intercourse later than
women. The median age at first sexual intercourse among men is 20,
compared to 18 for women. While the HIV/AIDS pandemic has been
inflicting a devastating impact on various sectors of life, one of the
major obstacles to its prevention is social stigma. Stigma is defined as
an attribute that is deeply discrediting which links a person to
undesirable characteristics, thus reducing that individual’s status in
the eyes of society (Clifford, 2004). It has been indicated that
stigmatized individuals are believed to possess some features that
convey a social identity that is devalued in a particular social
context. In stigma, one group sees the other as abnormal and should be
abhorred. It’s components includes people distinguishing and labeling
human differences; dominant groups linking labeled persons to
undesirable characteristics; labeled persons are placed in distinct
categories so as to accomplish some degree of separation of ‘us’ from
‘them’ and labeled persons experience status loss and discrimination
that leads to unequal outcomes (Dorothy, 2003). It manifests in
avoidance, social distancing, coercion and non-supportiveness’s
elf-stigma leads to reduced or diminished self-esteem. Stigmatization
can lead to prejudicial thoughts, behaviours and actions on the part of
individuals and groups (Adelini, 2004).
The ancient world
discouraged promiscuity for both healthy and social reasons (Joseph,
2003). According to Pythagoras (6th century BCE), sex should be
practiced in the winter, but not the summer, but was harmful to male
health in every season because the loss of semen was dangerous, hard to
control and both physically and spiritually exhausting, but had no
effect on females (Robert, 2005). This idea may have been merged with
Zoroastrian idea of good and evil in a philosophy known as Gnosticism,
which influenced Christian and Islamic attitudes to sexual activity
(Emery, 2005). Throughout history, and especially prior to the 20th
century, there have been those who have held that sexual abstinence
confers numerous health benefits. For males, lack of abstinence was
thought to cause a reduction of vitality. In modern times, the argument
has been phrased in biological terms, claiming that loss of semen
through ejaculation result in a depletion of vital nutrients such as
lecithin and phosphorous, which are also found at the higher levels in
the brain.
Some advantages in favour of
sexual abstinence were also claimed by Walter Siegmeister, better known
as Raymond and Bernard, an early 20th century American alternative
health, esoteric writer, author and mystic, who formed part of the
alternative reality subculture. In his essay entitled science discovers
the physiological value of continence (1957) he states: “It is clear
that there is an important internal physiological relation between the
secretion of the sex glands and the central nervous system, that the
loss of these secretions, voluntarily or involuntarily, exercises a
detrimental effect on the nutrition and vitality of the nerves and
brain, while, on the other hand, the conservation of these secretions
has a vitalizing effect on the nervous system, a regenerating effect on
the endocrine glands, and a rejuvenating effect on the organism as a
whole.†Considering the above statement based on what is experienced
amid youths in the Nigeria setting, there are believes that when one
refrain from sex such a person would have scrotal pains so, this believe
has caused many youths to run into sex while others believe that, by
having sex, ones life longevity reduces by twenty one days depending on
the number of time he/she have sex, so, this also is refraining youths
from having sexual intercourse while some youths are not even afraid to
face any negative consequences for having se. the widely dreaded
HIV/AIDS is another thing of fear among youth in that it’s victims have
been seen and, it’s news is allover the places and, still some youth
could not abstain from having sex so, they use
contraceptives/protectives such as condom. This endemic has to stop or
get reduced in rate therefore, parents, government, non-governmental
bodies, association, etc has a lot to do as regard the issue of sexual
abstinence among youths.
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