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Parent and Child Communications Model Encourages Delayed Sexual Debut
Some parents neglect the part of sex, don’t say anything to the child about sex, so the child is obliged to do it by curiosity to see. But if the parents educate the child, explain to her a little about sex, because there are some parents who talk a little about sex… they warn you. So these parents must be intimate friends to their children.
— Togo, non sexually active female, age 14-16
Lack of adequate parent/adolescent communication about sex, HIV/AIDS, and social pressures was one of the many contextual factors identified in a series of focus groups conducted by AIDSMark on delayed sexual debut in Africa that was found to contribute to youth’s decisions to engage in sexual activity. To complement the delayed debut regional mass media campaign, AIDSMark has developed the interpersonal communication program, Safe from Harm, focused on parent/adolescent communication. Specifically, the program aims to:
- Equip parents with the knowledge and skills necessary to increase the amount and quality of in-home sex education they provide to their children;
- Give adolescents the opportunity to gain communication skills and improve personal risk perception;
- Provide parents and adolescents with a forum to practice these skills; and
- Ultimately encourage youth to delay sexual debut.
The Safe from Harm pilot program recently launched in Zambia and South Africa. It consists of several small group sessions with parents and their youth, individually at first, and then for one final joint session. Once the pilot test results are in at the end of the summer, the program will be available for roll-out in other interested countries.
“We've been really impressed with the delayed debut/parent-child communication program and the support from AIDSMark,” says SFH South Africa Director Katie Schwarm. “... the training and implementation support for all our coordinators was great and the cost effective monitoring and evaluation tools will help all aspects of our IPC
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