Abstract
Talking about sexuality has never been easy in most Namibians cultures and it seems that most parents feel uncomfortable and embarrassed to talk openly with their children about sexuality. They do not participate in the sexuality education of their children, because they believe they are unable to provide quality and adequate sexuality information due to their lack of knowledge about human sexuality or their perceived inability to explain what they do know.The ultimate purpose of this study was to develop, describe, implement and evaluate an educational programme to empower rural parents to participate in the sexuality education of their children. The study was designed to be qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature. It was performed in three phases. Phase 1 consisted of a situational analysis to explore and describe how parents provide sexuality education. Phase 2 consisted of the development of a conceptual framework that facilitated the development of an educational programme. In phase 3 the programme was implemented and evaluated, recommendations were made and conclusions drawn. The main findings revealed two themes: factors influencing parental participation in their children’s sexuality education, and the need for parental participation in their children’s sexuality education.This article is part of series of three article stems from a study on the topic of sexuality education empowerment programme of rural parents in Namibia. The three articles have the following titles: one: parent’s participation in sexuality education of their children: a situational analysis; two: conceptual framework developments that facilitate the development of an educational programme and three: programme implementation and evaluation. This article dealt with parent’s participation in sexuality education of their children: a situational analysis.
Highlights
Introduction and Rationale of the StudySexuality education is a lifelong process of acquiring information and forming attitudes, beliefs and values about identity, relationships and intimacy
Parental participation in the sexuality education of children is crucial because parents are the primary socialising agents of their children
The study found that many parents do not provide adequate sexuality education for their children because they do not know enough about sexuality, they do not know how to explain what they know, and they feel incompetent and embarrassed
Summary
Sexuality education is a lifelong process of acquiring information and forming attitudes, beliefs and values about identity, relationships and intimacy. It encompasses sexuality development, reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, affection, intimacy, body image and gender roles. Schoeberlein (2001) conducted a survey on parent-child communication about sexuality and found that the benefits of such communication may not lie in the actual content of the communication as much as in the attitudes conveyed by parents He further suggested that if parents influence their children’s attitudes towards sexuality, it is likely that this runs via the transmission of attitudes and values. According to Taris (2005), these findings explain why children who can talk to their parents about sexuality are less likely to engage in sexual activity, and are more responsible in their approaches to sexual activity
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