‘Depts must take hands to protect our children’
A concerned teacher said to Review that, at the age of only 10-years-old, some children in the school she is teaching at are already sexually active.
POLOKWANE – A concerned teacher said to Review that, at the age of only 10-years-old, some children in the school she is teaching at are already sexually active.
She spoke to Review on condition of anonymity.
“This is very alarming to me and I think the departments of health and education must stand together and work out a plan of action to address this issue,” she said. “We had a situation at our school where learners got into a fight after a gr 5. boy told his friends he had sex with a gr 4. girl. The girl came to me in tears and when I called the boy, he confessed that they did have sex. Later the girl also confirmed this,” the teacher said.
The teacher added that there was another incident at the school, where boys applied a mentholated topical cream to their penises, because they believed it would make their genitals longer. “Some of their friends came to me and said what these boys were doing in the bathroom. I had no words and had to call one of my colleagues to assist me with the situation.”
A concerned parent from Lebowakgomo said what was more alarming about children having sex at an early age, was that children were raping children. Review recently ran a story about a nine-year-old girl that was allegedly raped by five boys, aged between eight and 10-years-old at Unit F in Lebowakgomo. The girl was playing in the park when the boys attacked her.
A case of rape is being investigated by Lebowakgomo police and the boys were released into their parents care, until police investigations were concluded.
Col Ronel Otto, a provincial police spokesperson says it is a problem in some parts of the province. “Parents must talk to their children about sex and make sure there is an open communication channel so that the child will feel free to come and talk to them and ask questions about sex,” she said.
“Parents must also monitor the programmes that their children watch on television. There must also be supervision on the use of social media and the Internet,” Otto advised parents.
Adéle van der Linde, department of health spokesperson, said girls in Limpopo get exposed to sex at an early age with the average age of first sexual encounter at 16 years. “Exposure to sex is due to alcohol, peer pressure, family pressure, media and technology, poverty and multiple sexual relationships,” she said.
The department’s advice on how it can be prevented:
• To enforce the Sexual Offence and Related Matters Amendment Act;
• Improved access to service by strengthening community outreach programmes dealing with teenage sexuality issues;
• Increased public awareness through campaigns to promote teenage sexual rights;
• Teenage mentoring;
• Community development or economic development, and
• stakeholder capacity building.
“The long term side effects when a child get sexually active at an early age is risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STI’s), HIV/aids and pregnancy. The short term side effects are the violation of the child’s sexual rights and poor school attendance and performance,” Van der Linde explained.
She added that young females are also at high risk of cervical cancer if infected with the human papilloma virus, an issue currently addressed by the department.
“Coping with STI’s and HIV/aids is a traumatic experience. Having a baby at such a young age can be traumatising for a young female. Over and above that, the child basically is forced into an adult experience which can be confusing at an age when they are still supposed to be learning through playing games. Their development into stable and responsible adults and the development of their minds through education, is severely hampered,” Van der Linde said.
