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Are you your child's hommie?

Parenteen

 

Being your child's hommie
 Being your child’s hommie

Recently, Unicef released a damning report about adolescents and sex.

The gist of the report was that a significant number of teenagers between the ages 10-14 were having their debut sexual encounter at that tender age.

It was also rightly observed that the teens were eating the forbidden fruit without wearing the protective gear.

The statistics were so alarming, it was being proposed that the way forward is to give the kids condoms.

I think I may be living under a rock because I had no idea that kids that age were having so much sex, condoms is the only way out. Wake me up from my slumber, but I don't know how we reached the "do you need a fresh supply of condoms?" conversation with teenagers. How did we even get there?

My daughter Tasha is now seven, so that means according to that Unicef study, I have three years before I start buying her sanitary towels and a constant supply of condoms.

That calls for prayer and fasting...If indeed kids are having sex at that young age, I think we as parents lost the script somewhere. Solution to this filthy mess? We need to go back to the drawing board.

Just after the study was released, I watched an interesting panel of teenagers discussing the issue in naked truth on one of the TV stations. "What is itching your young groins?" the panelist asked the vibrant teenagers, a young lad and lass who are both 17 years old.

"Our parents are not our friends.", "They see us as these spoilt children." "It is always do this... do that.... But they never listen to us", "We have so much in our hearts but nobody wants to listen to us." Those were some of their grievances. And here's the punch line, "I want my father to be my hommie," said the gregarious teenager.

Are you your child's hommie? For those who live in Mars like me, hommie is a close pal; that one bosom buddy you can tell that you have a crush on your deskie and they will not judge you or look at you with strange eyes.

A hommie is that friend who a teenage girl can go to and share deep secrets like, "I spotted something red on my panty and I don't know what to do." A hommie will make sure they keep that secret to the grave and help the girl get whatever she needs to keep her safely protected. A hommie is that friend a girl is free to tell if another boy touches her in an appropriate manner. Do you get the drift of my discussion?

Our teenagers are yearning for us to be their friends and close confidantes. But you cannot start being their friend when they are 14... you have to start when they are still babies. That is how you will win their hearts.

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