Contextualization of Traditional Approaches to Sex Education in Enhancing Adolescent Health: A New Approach to Public Health

Introduction and background

Sex education is highly valued and important rite of passage for children among the Luo community of Kenya.  Over the years, the family in Kenya has undergone a major shift which has influenced the traditional structures that cushioned the processes of providing sex education thus creating a gap in the sex education to the adolescents. This study researched o the role of grandparents in adolescent sex education.  The aim of the study was to determine how these roles and approaches could contribute to enhancing adolescent sex education within the African context.

Methodology

The study applied qualitative design where 60 grandfathers and 60 grandmothers were interviewed in Focus Group Discussions.   Knowledgeable community elders were used as key informants to enhance the data’s validity.        

Findings

This study found that the role of grandparents in adolescent sex education is important.  Grandparents were viewed as sex educators and models of behaviour as adolescents grew up. Further, the study found that the approaches used in passing sex education were unique in nature.  It also found that sex education has shifted from traditional school of sex education to a modern system of sex education thus creating a shift in the context of sex education.   

Conclusion and Recommendations

This study reveals that sex education cannot be left in the hands of any single source of information given the current context of sex education.  A greater emphasis needs to be placed on providing effective sex education from a primary level. The strategy requires the adoption of traditional approaches to sex education that involves the contextualization of sex education in a most participatory approach.

Policy makers should embrace the  traditional approaches  to sex education to involve other stakeholders such as the church, peers and schools through which sexuality education can be passed on to adolescents.