This information that I now share with you has been given to me solicitously and without direct sight of written confirmation.
However, the frequency of this information and the differing sources put together does give some level of power of its own.
It, at least, does merit a discussion about how this information is formed.
The actual title of this discussion is 'Lambeth Borough tops the highest number of sexually transmitted Infections among African-Caribbean and African young people.
' This same information (I have been informed) is also being shared within Higher Education courses.
I have chosen to speak of this subject universally.
This concern may well be just as prominent in other Boroughs but this information has not been shared.
I do not state this conspiratorially but it may just be a case of the 'loudest being heard.
' What is happening with our young Black females? Has the young female thought about the long-term impact upon her health? What about the short-term damage to her emotional health? The engagement of young sex should be causing great concern in the Black community.
But is it? Are the risky behaviours of our young people conspiratorially accepted? There is enough information given out to young females about the important use of contraception yet the unknown source of this information (article title) states otherwise; or, at the very least, that the message is not getting through.
It is not simply a case of the message not getting to those young females who have made the decision to embark upon a sexual life? Probably more due to a very loud shout out by these young females who have made the decision to be sexually active does so without the requisites to make such a decision.
Peer pressure has always been around.
The belief that everyone is 'doing it' has also been around.
Yet we are seeing increasing numbers of young mums and high numbers of poor sexual health.
So what's changed? Unless we start to tackle the problem that leads young females to engage in risky behaviour then we can safely assume that we will be living with lots of spiritually broken females all with the responsibilities of raising vulnerable children.
As you read this, you may well think that this problem does not concern you.
You may not even have a daughter but this does not negate your responsibility.
You are surrounded and live in a community that make up a very small population but represents a higher than acceptable number of teenage parents and poor sexual health.
If you are a mother to a teenage female, how have you prepared her for a potentially confusing and peer-pressured environment that she lives in? Do you know the pressures that she experiences? What discussions have you had with her? Do not assume that schools et al will approach the subject of sex and relationships because so far, this is not working.
Nor is this the time to be shy or lost for words with your young female.
Action is required in small pockets to enable the change of how our young females see themselves.
The sum of the parts is greater than the whole meaning.
Clean your own house out first! Our young females are not inanimate prey to predators (young or old, intentionally or otherwise).
They are in the embryonic stages of their bloom and depending on their environment will either wilt or achieve their full potentials.
One of the ideologies that controversially and surreptitiously promote the increasing problems of teenage sex is one of cultural acceptance.
As a community, it appears that abstinence of sex is not directly encouraged whilst at the same time the act of supporting the emotional health is also amiss.
Young sex is accepted as a misdemeanor with the hope that long-term damage does not happen.
This does not mean that parents do not care; it's more of their own inability to speak with their children about the implications of engaging in frivolous sex.
However, even if a conversation tried to take place, what would this look like? What level of understanding would the parent come from? Let's assume it will be the mother to have a conversation with her daughter about sex and relationships, is the mother fully equipped to initiate, sustained and promote the healthy, inquisitive yet confused mind of the young female? Yes, indeed! We cannot forget the unrelenting sense of reality from the young female on how much they are in love.
Yet this appears to be more about love with and for another than with themselves.
Also, young females may feel that they have to engage in sex otherwise some terrible fate will bestow them.
They will be viewed negatively by their peers let alone ram shackled by the young man trying to sow his oats.
We cannot isolate the sexual behaviours of our young females without looking at their role models.
Let's start within the home because this is where the inception of values first starts.
Also the strength of these values prepares the owner with the tools to deal with social values.
What conclusions have they drawn from their mother's behaviour? What makes up the family composition? Is the household led by a single mother? If so, what protection does the mother give to her children as she attempts to find her own source of love? If the household has 2 parents, what does their relationship look like to their young? Is it openly one of love? Does it appear to be one of commitment or just shacking up together? Are the men in young female's immediate environment living multiple lives with multiple loves? Parents cannot afford to believe that they play no part in the promotion of the destruction and denigrate of a loving and consensual love that should be engaged at a more appropriate time in one's life; preferably in a committed relationship.
The perceived acceptance of allowing multiples to engage in their own frivolous and selfish desires upon the young female should be viewed differently than is current.
This does not mean that an affected female should be relegated to the pits of lost souls but more emphasis should be placed in strengthening one's own level of awareness of the destructive desires led by not just their own but other's emotional desires.
One of the characteristics of puberty is one of it being clothed in clandestine with many decisions based upon and fueled by the lack of emotional understanding of one's self.
Promoted by cultural acceptance of casual sex and glorified by the media aimed at promoting their own agenda, be that financial or to dig the pit bigger for an underclass of people is beside the point.
It should not be that easy for others to influence our values or is it time we face the uncomfortable reality of our community preferring life this way? Either way, wake up and first understand what part you play not just with your young female but quite possibly with you too.
Be decisive with your decision about whether you agree with our young female 'enjoying' young sex or just really don't know how to deal with this issue.
Lastly, are you promoting your own self-esteem and how? If not, why? Make the decision today to help support our young Black females with making proper choices for their minds and bodies.
Raising the emotional development of young females.