The widespread availability of sexually explicit media content, along with a lack of comprehensive sex education, is leading teenagers towards sexual misinformation. Many blame pornography for sex addiction among teenagers. However, the growing viewership of different web series and movies appear to be posing even bigger problems.
Although the Nigerian government, non-governmental organisations and the civil society unequivocally frown at pornography, there are no prohibitions on sexually explicit content on YouTube, Netflix or other entertainment platforms. Meanwhile, their impact on the sexual miseducation of teenagers is vastly underestimated.
With nudity, aggressive lovemaking, and casual sex being common features in many dramas and series these days, it is no wonder why many teenagers have built unrealistic fantasies and dangerous sexual tendencies. And while popular streaming services might have added 18+ or 19+ tags on its adult movies or erotica, there is no guarantee that a 14–17 years old teenager is not watching them.
It would also be naive to ignore the fact that whether having a relevant story plot or not, most web series these days are usually full of sexually gratifying scenes, mainly to draw a young audience. And most of them, in fact, do not have a minimum age policy for streaming.
And with many teenagers having pointed to such exaggerated contents to have led them toward forming unrealistic ideas about sex and sexual pleasure, it is a cause for concern and constructive action. For emphasis, several other teenagers also admit to having become addicted to sex fantasies, which are often violent or perverted by watching these web shows and/or movies.
We also hear time and again about teenagers and secondary school students who lost their lives in the process of ‘coerced sex’ or perverted sexual acts sponsored by ‘sexual fantasy’.
Evidently, as teenagers keep learning their sex lessons from sexually violent content, we shouldn’t be surprised by the situation we have today. The lack of knowledge on sex coupled with the misguided information they receive from these freely available sexually explicit content keeps leading teenagers to get involved in risky sexual behaviour, including life-threatening acts.
This absence of sex education has also led many of them to get involved in uninformed physical relationships even before their bodies are fully developed for sexual intercourse. They are drawn to try out sexual fantasies without being aware of their consequences.
Under such circumstances, mandatory sex education at secondary school leave can definitely be effective. But, the real problem is that ‘sex’ and ‘sexuality’ are largely perceived as taboo subjects in Nigeria, as in most African cultures. Much of society like to pretend that sex exists only after marriage.
And even though sex after marriage is the ideal situation, it is not the reality. However, society shying away from talking about it in the proper light and continuing to consider sex education as something vulgar or a sexual curiosity-booster in disguise, it would help them ground their expectations in reality and guide their sexual behaviours towards discipline and positive and affectionate future expressions.
The teenagers’ ignorance, on the other hand, is sponsoring great damage to their reproductive, mental and overall health. And as we see, this ignorance has also led several to their early graves.
Learning about sex from parents, guardians, elders and peers would also be inadequate, as the topic is considered to a taboo in several families and in the society at large. Nigerian parents, particularly, have serious misconceptions about sex education and are unlikely to want to deliver it anyway.
Moving forward, in removing social stigmas around sex education, the point of departure can be spreading awareness about what sex education really talks about. It is beyond just talking about sexual intimacy. It neither encourages nor discourages having sex, rather it does quite the opposite. It only guides towards informed and wise sexual choices and helps students to understand that sex and sexuality are normal parts of human life and is, therefore, nothing to fantasise about.
For the avoidance of doubt, we do not suggest that sex education is the only solution to ending rape in Nigeria’s culture, but we cannot but submit that it is a key component in combatting it.
By teaching boys and girls about consent, privacy and body autonomy, sex education can equip them with the knowledge to recognise and curb harmful behaviour before they escalate to sexual violence. Sex education can also help students to enter puberty in a healthy manner and to reduce the likelihood of sexual crime.
Furthermore, the concept of consensual sex must be ingrained in sex education, not as an encouragement to have sex, but merely as a tool to ensure that boys and girls are fully informed about sex and consent. Sex education must also teach that no one is expressly entitled to intimacy, and thus, it must only be allowed subject to consent. It should also emphasise the importance of men respecting women and vice versa over rights to their bodies.
Finally…
While sex education is not entirely absent in Nigeria, its entry points have been the aid programmes, health and family planning etc sponsored by government and non-governmental organisations, sex education has never been adequately addressed to support Bangladeshi teenagers to develop a healthy, biologically sound, socially equitable and culturally non-violent attitude towards sexuality and sexual relationships.
Nigeria needs to institutionalise age-specific comprehensive sex education designed to help teenagers and young people learn about human sexual behaviour, which will eventually lead them to make informed and healthy decisions in their (sexual) lives. It should be compulsory, inclusive and incorporated in all mediums.
However, including sex education in the curriculum will not be enough. Sex education should also be delivered properly in classes. Biology teachers should be properly trained on sex education delivery, so some of them don’t keep skipping chapters on human reproduction like they are reported to do. Teachers delivering these lessons in class will contribute to breaking the existing stigma and perceived taboo around talking about sex.
Also, mechanisms should be developed to assess student outcomes, identify gaps and incorporate necessary changes in curriculum.
