Sex Education: Ancient Israel and Igbo Traditional Practices

Abstract

Every human (male and female) is a sexual being. Exploring and experiencing one’s sexuality is part of being human. Unfortunately, human’s curiosity and interest concerning sexuality are not always guided and nurtured in a wholesome way because sex is viewed as sacred and talking about it constitutes a taboo. Hence, many parents are at ease to teach their children about virtually every other thing in life, but they usually do not, however, teach about sexuality with similar ease. As a result, many grow into adulthood with partial and distorted views of human sexuality. The aim of the study was to discover the teachings of Proverbs 7:24-27 on sex education along traditional practices in tone with sex education in Igbo culture and determine the place of proper sex education for better dealing and understanding of human sexuality. The study adopted African inculturation hermeneutics which makes African social cultural context the subject of interpretation. The study revealed that sex education was integral to the training of the young adults in ancient Israel Igbo cultures. However, the study observed some areas of strength and weaknesses of sexuality training in Igbo traditional practices. Thus, the research upheld that the instructions on human sexuality preserved in the book of Proverbs are very relevant in strengthening the contemporary Igbo culture and her traditional practices in the training of young adults in the areas of chastity. Therefore, the paper called for proper sex education in the Igbo society to instill sexual purity among youths of contemporary Igbo society.