#PNN EMentoring (Taiwo Akinlami): Personal Safety/Self Protection For Teenagers: Guidelines To Responses

Welcome to this page today. Sure you are doing great. We could not make it here last week as it was a public holiday. Thank God for preserving our lives till date. I am here excited to support you in your commitment to protect yourself from all forms of abuse. 

Today, I will introduce you to what I believe your response should be to suspicion of abuse or actual abuses. Let me dwell a bit on the word, ‘response.’ Please note that the word ‘response’ is related to the word, ‘responsibility.’ It simply means you have a RESPONSIBILITY to prevent all the factors, which attack your personal safety. It is not a responsibility you can delegate or should delegate, depending on your age. Please note that response is stronger than reaction. Reaction may be an after-thought while response is proactive.

To be proactive is to believe for the best but prepare to handle the worst of situations. Many young people are not well schooled in this area.

Guideline to RESPONSES

I will begin to share with you the guidelines to your responses to all the forms of abuse, we have discussed before.  I shall break down your responses according to each of the form of abuse. It is time to fasten your seat belt and get ready to take responsibility for your protection as follows:

• Sexual Abuse (Non-Consensual and consensual): concerning sexual abuse, either non-consensual or consensual is not appropriate for children as stated earlier. Please note that according to the law a child does not have the capacity to consent to sexual relationship either with an adult or peer. Any form of sexual relationship with peer or adult by anyone below the age 18 years old among to nothing but abuse. Therefore anyone below the age of 18 years cannot give consent for sexual relationship both to an adult or peer. It is not also a defence for an adult, who is caught having sexual relationship with anybody below 18 years of age that at the point of entering into sexual relationship with such person, thinking that the person was above 18 years.

I think I should draw the curtain of our discussion here. I will be back next week to continue this discussion. 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!