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The Parental Monitoring And Religious Activities On Sexual Abstinence
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Sexual abstinence has been
practiced at all edges by different cultural backgrounds even, biblical
proof stated 1st Thessalonians 4:2-4 that, “for this is the will of God,
your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each
one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honour. In
the African setting, it is common of parents to monitor their children
such as knowing where and when they will leave a particular place and,
most importantly, the types of friends that they keep because, it is a
taboo in African cultural setting for a young man to get married to a
disvirgin lady even, it is a disgrace to the entire family of such a
lady. This African culture is also depicted in the book of Hebrew 13:4,
“let marriage be held in honour among all, and let the marriage bed be
undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. The
medicine of the Prophet by Al-Suyuti (pp. 18-20) states “go and take
virgin as your wife whom you will caress and who will caress you,†while
an Hadith of the Prophet (S.A.W) states “whoever among you is troubled
by his sexual urge, let him marry for marriage causes the eyes to be
lowered and safeguards the private parts.†This facts undoubtedly shows
that the African culture against sexual intercourse before marriage
isn’t bias but, for the safety of the adolescents in that, a lot of it
had led to contracting of deadly sexually transmitted diseases.
Parents, as adolescents themselves reveal, are the ones who have the
most influence on their children’s decisions about sex. Indeed,
two-thirds of all adolescents share their parent’s value on this. nearly
all parents (90 percent) report having had a helpful conversation about
delaying sex and avoiding pregnancy with their adolescent children,
compared to 71 percent of adolescents who report having had such a
conversation with their parents (Edgars, 2000). Meanwhile, several
negative outcomes has been attached to adolescent sexual intercourse
especially those who lack parental monitoring and these outcomes are:
lack of wages and career opportunities, increased welfare dependency,
interrupted education, single parenthood, psychological distress,
increased medical complications during childbirth and high likelihood of
further unintended pregnancies (Chilman, 1988; Voydanoff & Donelly,
1993; McLaughlin & Micklin, 1983; Zabin & Hayward, 1993). Drop
in abstinence, religion may also play a vital role at bringing
adolescents to consciousness on the related risks associated with having
sexual intercourse before marriage.
Religion plays a
significant role in the life of individuals in any society. It’s role as
a moral builder has been variously acknowledged but, one factor that
has not been given adequate attention in Nigeria, especially among
adolescents, is the role of religion in adolescents sexuality. Although
several studies have shown a correlation between adolescent sexual
behaviour and religious commitment (Cullen, 2003), no serious attempt to
confirm the underlying mechanism through which religion affects sexual
behaviour exists in Nigeria because, religious values are the source of
moral proscriptions for many individuals, the teachings of the churches
and mosques are likely to play a role in the formation of individual
attitudes, values and decisions. The extent to which religion influence
individual attitudes and behaviour, however, depends on the specific
doctrines and religious institutions on the degree of integration and
commitment of individuals to their particular religious institutions
(Iyod, 1999; Beckly, 2000; & Larma, 2001).
The
Christian religious group have strong opposition against premarital sex,
although such opposition is more radical among the Pentecostal and
evangelical religious movements. While the later can sanction their
members by excommunication, the former can tolerate the offending
members with the hope that they will turn a new life (Odimegwu, 2005).
This differential institutional commitment to premarital sexual
abstinence leads to the expectation that in individual Catholics and
evangelical Protestants would be less accepting of premarital sex than
non-fundamentalist Protestants. Those who with no religious affiliation
would be most likely to accept and engage in premarital intercourse
(Beckly, 2000). Since most religious groups discourage premarital sex,
the degree of commitment to religious organizations may be more
important as a determinant of premarital sex and abstinence attitudes
and behaviour than religious affiliation.
Individuals who
attend religious services may receive more frequency religious messages
on abstinence and, their greater religious commitment may also make
them more likely to accept the teaching of their religious institutions
concerning abstinence and against premarital sex. Thus, individuals who
attend religious services frequently and who value religion in their
lives are probably more likely than others to develop sexual attitudes
and behaviour that are consistent with their religious doctrines. As a
result young people who are active in religious groups would either have
a greater commitment towards sexual abstinence before marriage or would
place greater emphasis on maturity in sexual relationships than would
young adolescents less active in religion institutions (Peter, 2001
& Odimegwu, 2004).
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