SEDIBENG.- Of the three daughters that I have, one has reached the age of puberty and for this, I am grateful but worried, not for me but for her future. Not that I do not care about the other two, I do, but I am extremely worried about the eldest.

The recent statement that was released by Department of Education that said that more and more girl children are falling pregnant has left me more confused and worried than angry. It is said that some of these young girls are as young as ten years and in primary school, I then turn and ask myself who in his right mind sleeps with a 10-year-old?

Statistics reveal that many school-going South African girls are at risk of falling pregnant before they reach matric and that they often then drop out of school because they can not take the pressure that comes with being a mother and a child at the same time.

Lots of things come to my mind when I discuss this topic everywhere it arises, let us blame the parents I say, let’s blame the government for giving them too many ‘rights’, or let’s blame the education system for teaching them too much (or too little?), I wonder.

The blame game does not take us anywhere as long as we do not fix the environment in which the children reside, the insufficient spaces, where parents are sharing a room or a shack with their children exposing them to early sexual activities.

It is well known that most children grow up in households where parents are constantly under the influence. They, therefore, tend to have sexual intercourse unaware that children are listening or looking at whatever is happening, and in turn ‘copy’ them.

It is also a given that when young children grow up in areas where there is poverty, they are at risk of experiencing an early pregnancy. Child-headed families and orphans are faced with difficulties when both parents are deceased, and this results in them turning to sexual activities to earn money, which often results in pregnancy.

Sex is not a common topic discussed within families, and especially not in black cultures and this should stop!

I believe that we should have parental involvement, communicate with children about dating, contraceptives, and intimacy, and give them information about sexual reproductive health.

As I write this piece, Lionel Richie’s song is coming from my sound system’s speakers, and I sing along…  Father, help your children and don’t let them fall by the side of the road.

I am sure now you understand why I am worried about my eldest daughter.

Lerato wa ha Serero…