The Things Nigerian Parents Tell Their Children About Love, Sex and Puberty

Even in this modern day and age, many parents are often embarrassed to talk to their kids about love and sex when their kid reaches the age of puberty. To most parents, the fear of talking to their kid(s) about sex is worse than the fear of death itself. Some Nigerian parents (especially in the old days) have come up with several absurd ways to tell their kid(s), particularly their daughters, about love and sex.

Here are some outrageously ridiculous things parents in the old days tell their daughters about love and sex:

Menstrual Cycle

In the old days, it is believed that when a girl starts menstruating, she has begun to have sex. The reason why many people thought this way was because women in the olden days got married at very tender ages (14-16 years) and many of them started their menstrual periods after they had gotten married.

Some parents told their daughters in the old days that they can only start their periods after they had gotten married. Some girls were thoroughly beaten because they saw their periods without being married!

After the introduction of formal education by the British colonial masters, everyone learned that all women start menstruating when they get to the age of puberty.

Pregnancy By Association

Some parents, all in a bid to keep their teenage daughters away from boys, tell their daughters never to sit, talk or touch boys. Because if they do, they will automatically get pregnant!

There was a story of a teenage girl in the early 80's who ran home to tell her parents that she was pregnant. After her father and mother gave a good beating, they asked her who was responsible for her pregnancy; she said she really didn't know because a group of boys "sat" next to her while she was riding the bus home from school and they totally ignored her when she told them to get up. Her father (who was obviously confused) asked her, "how on earth could that get you pregnant?" she said that her mother warned her (on the day she had her first period) never to sit near "any boy" because she would get pregnant if she does. Pathetic huh?

Sex

Many parents told their teenage kids that sex is meant only for married couples (it still is!) and if they have sex without being married, they would burn in hell! Teenagers were never allowed to ask questions about sex because it was considered downright vulgar.

Most Nigerian parents leave sex education to school teachers (and NGO's) because sex education is now a part of every school's curriculum. Some youth oriented NGO's are fully aware of the reluctance of some Nigerian parents to talk to their children about sex, so they made it their utmost priority to host free seminars to educate teenagers about the benefits of abstaining from sex and the best methods for sexually active teenagers to engage in safe-sex. Many teenagers have chosen to abstain from sex by attending these free seminars.