#PNN E-Mentoring (Taiwo Akinlami): Personal Safety/Self Protection For Teenagers: Guidelines To Responses (1)

Hello my young friends; It’s been a while. Pardon my unavoidable absence. I had few emergencies to respond to. We thank God that things have eased out now. I am back here to discuss with you matters, which, I believe are helpful to your advancement as young people.

Sure you are doing splendid today.  How are you finding your long vacation? I am you are having great and positive fun. I know that some of you are attending one summer school or the other. I look forward to hearing from you on your summer school experience. I have a gift for the first three people to share with me your summer school or holidays experiences.

We are still on our discussion, Personal Safety/Self-Protection for Teenagers. I will continue where I stopped the last time. I will like to shed more light on the definition of Sexual Abuse (Non-Consensual and consensual) before proceeding to sharing with you how to protect yourself from same. Sex, you will agree with me is a major issue among young people today. Everyone around you appears to be committed to luring you into sex one way or the other. That is why, it is important we to demystify sex as we discuss how to protect yourself from sexual abuse.

Please note that beyond the legal definition of what constitute sexual abuse, I have discovered from working with a lot of young people like you in the last seventeen years that sexual abuse is deeper. I think it is important you pay very serious attention to this for the sake of your personal safety and self-protection.  Sexual abuse includes any act or omission of yours or your caregivers, which compromises, your sexuality. What do I mean by this? I mean sexual abuse include exposing yourself to inappropriate materials, which in most cases include songs with lewd and sexually suggestive contents. The implication of this is that it perverts your perception about your sexuality and almost automatically prepares you for making yourself available for sexual relationship either with your peers or adults.  For example, today many of you listen and dance to songs, which are made for adults; I mean songs, which contain lewd and sexually suggestive words and lyrics. Please note that such practice is an abuse of your sexuality.

Your sense of healthy sexuality as a young person is your understanding of the essence of your gender and how to take adequate and informed steps to preserve, protect and celebrate same. This noble quest comes under vicious but subtle attack when you are sexually abused through exposure to inappropriate materials.  Please note that you are not the only guilty party in this matter. In most cases, you are initiated into this unholy realm by your caregivers, who also do not know the implications of their actions or omission.

I think I should sign out here. I will continue with you next week when I will share my last thoughts with you on sexual abuse before I proceed to how you can protect yourself against same.  I look forward to receiving you then on this same page. Remember, I am available on this platform for interaction. Do have an INSPIRED week. Stay SMART!