As children report for second term, parents have been asked to desist from packing condoms and family planning pills for their children.
Recently, it was learnt that there are some parents who have resorted to packing condoms for their children as they go back to schools as one way of protecting them from contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
Vianah Kemigisha, a health worker in Monitoring and Evaluation department at USAID western Uganda has condemned the behavior saying it is something that ends up encouraging them to engage into sexual practices. Kemigisha advises parents to focus on educating teens about the dangers of early s3x.
“As Parents, let’s encourage our children and let’s monitor the movements of our children especially the teens. I still stand that HIV is still there and it is actually taking the lives of our young children. Encourage our children to know their status, not only these children but most of our communities do not know their status as far as HIV is concerned, let us know our status and once you find yourself sick start the treatment as soon as possible by taking ARVS,” said Kemigisha.
This call was made during a teens’ conference held over the weekend in Rwentondo, Mbarara City that was organised by Bombi Academic Guidance and Advocacy Conference (BAGACO) that aims at making a difference in young teenagers.
According to Joshua Bombi Mwiine, the CEO BAGACO reveals that the purpose of having such conferences with the teens is to teach them on how to prevent vices that are dangers to their academic careers.
“Personally I initiated this program based on the motivation, intuition and passion that I had towards making a difference in young teenagers. Most of the teens lack platforms to share their experiences and difficulties they pass through while at school and at home, but now having initiated such conferences it enables them to freely talk to the experts and in the long run they get relieved. We help them set teenage boundaries and health boundaries and through all those things we believe and hopeful that more in future we shall have to make a difference, we shall make the modals and others shall learn from them,” said Mwiine.
Jessica Byaruhanga, the former Councilor Mbarara City and an educationist has also revealed that parents who pack condoms and family planning pills for their children, is an encouragement of s3x among the children.
Byaruhanga has asked the parents that instead of packing such sexual protective measures like condoms and pills, they should rather sit with their children and tell them the basic dangers which are in early s3x.
“I want to call on the government to stop supplying condoms in public areas like councils, schools and other areas for people to access them for free. When I was at Mbarara City Council I used to find government branded condoms in the toilets and you would wonder that after like three days you would find the boxes empty. This means that even when the students know that its culture, they will go there and pick condoms from those areas and to me this has promoted sexaul practices among our children and we adults, something that has become dangerous to our young generation,” said Jessica Byaruhanga.
One of the students from Ntare School, Oubrel Abasa confirmed to the journalists that it’s true some of the fellow students in the school have been spotted with condoms in their packing Briefcases. That some move with them in their pockets to Byafura,Kajogo slum areas in Mbarara for the night outing, something he hinted on that its becoming dangerous to the lives of such teens.
“Some of our fellow students engage into such evil practices because they lack guidance from the parents and the teachers. As teens we need early guidance from our parents and our superiors before we are trapped into dangers of this world,” said Abasa, a student.
