Educate youth on premarital sex
A marriage counsellor based in Kumasi, Mrs Agnes Odoi, has urged churches to play a lead role in educating the youth on issues related to sex.
Speaking at the 2014 edition of the “Sex in the Pews” organised by Postponing Sexual Involvement Foundation (PSIF), a youth advocacy group based in Kumasi, Mrs Odoi said it was necessary to ensure that the youth avoided premarital sex and its consequences.
“The church stands the chance of using its large platform to make a great impact on the lives of most youth in the country”, she said, adding that lack of sex education made the youth yield to pressure from their peers.
The programme brought together over 800 youth from various churches in the Ashanti Region.
Mrs Odoi contended that churches in the country had not done enough to train the youth to desist from immoral acts, and pointed out that, “Looking at the state of teenage pregnancies and the high incidence of premarital sex among the youth, it is obvious that the church, which is the largest religious organisation in the country, has failed in its responsibility of educating and training the youth on sex and against immoral acts”.
Leadership of churches
She has, therefore, challenged the leadership of churches in the country to attach great importance to the training and upbringing of the youth in their churches and the nation as a whole.
“Look at the state of dressing among the youth in the church as the leadership of the various churches have refused to talk about it since they are afraid of losing their membership and rather concentrate on fundraising,” Mrs Odoi said.
The Founder of PSIF, Mr William Asiamah Karikari, advised the youth to adopt good reading habits and keep to other hobbies that would help them relax instead of following their peers to learn wrong behaviours.
He said he was hopeful that the foundation would continue to extend its education to churches, schools, markets and other social gatherings to educate people, especially the youth on premarital sex.