One of the areas that are causing so many problems for government policy is reproductive health. Although it is preferable that the parents are the primary source of information, they often neglect this duty because of cultural barriers and emotional barriers that they have with their children.
Health Care
However there is no way that the state can ignore the important issue of reproductive health. The result of this negligence is the increase in unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. It is better to tackle the problem head long. In this article we look at the ways in which the parents can ensure that their children are getting the best advice in this aspect.
These are some of the tricks that can help the parents to educate their children on reproductive health:
Health and Medical
1. Children should be encouraged to be open with their parents on issues of reproductive health. There exists some age and cultural barriers that might come into play but the parents have to ensure that they are open and accurate in their discussion of the general issues that affect the reproductive health of their children. It is not easy to overcome these barriers but it is important that they are overcome. The children that tend to face serious reproductive health problems are the ones that have parents that were too shy to discuss the important facts of life.
2. Although there has to be a sense of decorum when discussion these issues, they cannot be avoided out of false modesty. The children should retain some respect for their parents and likewise the parents might not embarrass their children too much. In effect the reproductive health discussion has to make the balance between information and decorum. Although you might have to discuss embarrassing facts it is better that watching your child dying from sexually transmitted diseases. Those that have religious affiliations might want to include their philosophies in their reproductive health discussions.
3. The reproductive health education has to be based on facts and not on myths. The child might be bombarded with myths and it is the responsibility of the parent to ensure that they are proceeding on the basis of real facts about the reproductive health process and the dangers of not taking it seriously enough. In the long run it is up to the parent to guide the direction of the discussion towards the salient points. It is also their responsibility to debunk the myths that may have been implanted in the minds of the young people that they are dealing with.
4. There should be an element of responsibility in any reproductive health discussion. Good reproductive health education focuses on the individual control over personal behavior and the consequences of irresponsibility.
5. The reproductive health education should be started an early age in order to be effective. If you wait until the child is grown you might find that they have already suffered irreparable damage. The younger children are more receptive to advice from parents.
