From Me To You

Teens Connect

By Nkechi Ibeneme  08142358958 – (sms only)

During the bloom of adolescence, sexual desires become strong. Powerful hormones are released that affect the reproductive organs. A teenager thus becomes more aware that these organs are capable of producing pleasurable sensations, and sometimes may become sexually excited even without thinking about sex. If you have experienced such arousal and wet dreams, there is nothing wrong with you. This is a normal response of a youthful body – culled from the book: “Questions Young PeopleAsk, Answers That Work”
Sex is a topic many parents shy away from discussing with their adolescents, and vice versa. Sex is a natural phenomenon; a process for procreation and bonding between married couples. Sex outside marriage is referred to as pre-marital and roundly discouraged for not just religious,   but also for psychological, emotional, physical and medical reasons.

All religions of the world, frown at sex before marriage and consider it a sin. But, away from religion, there are other consequences of pre-marital sex which the teenagers are largely ignorant of until they are caught in it web.

• Unnecessary emotional attachments: Sexual relationships often elicit strong emotional feelings which the teenager may not be able to handle. Distractions will set in when the teenager concentrates more on romance than academic studies which usually results in poor performance.
• The trauma of a broken heart: More often than not, teenage romances end abruptly leaving one or both parties heartbroken. Such individuals become disillusioned about life, and most times, their academic performance is also adversely affected. Worse still, they grow up distrusting members of the opposite sex.

•Sexually transmitted infections (STIs):  Young people are widely ignorant of the menace of sexually transmitted infections and as such, take it for granted. These are infections spread through sexual intercourse. Sex with an infected person automatically exposes a hitherto healthy person to the infections. In recent times HIV/AIDS has dominated the front line as the most dreadful sexually transmitted disease, this of course is true, but there are other types of sexually transmitted infections silently killing and rendering people infertile all over the world. One may be free of HIV/AIDS, but dying of Syphilis, Herpes, Hepatitis B, Gonorrhea, Staphylococcus and many others.

• Unwanted/teenage pregnancies: The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that approximately 36.6 million underage girls give birth to babies every year. Is this figure alarming? Yes! Can something be done about it? Absolutely!
I wish you all a merry Christmas! Remember, whatever you cannot proudly tell your parents; do NOT say or do.

Career 101

I consider this the best career advice ever; for parents and students:

Credit: Bernard Vash: Facebook

Talk to  Judy
Hi guys! My name is Judy. I am here to share your problems with you. Trust me to proffer solutions to those mind boggling problems you wouldn’t dare share with friends, siblings, parents or anyone else.
A lot of people; teenagers alike, hurt secretly with problems they can’t discuss openly for fear of being judged. You may hide your identity if you wish, but do write in and let’s discuss that problem. It is not healthy to bottle up problems. Moreover, problems shared are problems half solved. Or, you think no one cares? I do care!
I will be here every week to help you solve that problem. But, I can’t, if you don’t talk about it, so do write in. you never know, what you call a problem may just be a normal growing up experience

*****Send your mails to: teensconnectmag@gmail.com. Subject: Dear Judy.
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From Our Reader
Below is an article received from an ardent reader of the Teens Connect Page:

Save our girls
Theresa is a 14-year-old girl, schooling in one of the international schools in the city. She is in SS one.
Her off-school attire are always tight-fitted trousers and tops with spaghetti straps. She is also seen in fitted miniskirts and gowns. At her age, she already uses make-ups flawlessly. Indeed, this gives her a much mature look. She already looks like a 25-year old.
Men flock round her like bees and she obliges them. Her innocence is lost, whose fault?
Indecency in the society is one of the causes of immoral perversion today. Decency has been thrown to the dogs. What occupies the head of our teenage girls is the “how do I look?” syndrome. In the bid to look trendy they end up tartly dressed. Who buys the dresses our teenagers wear? Of course,  Mummy, daddy or aunty. The effect is what we see around us. Teens are exposed to sexual immorality basically because of indecent dressing.
This is a call to all parents, to desist from buying clothes that expose vital parts of their girls’ bodies. This will help to curb the rate of rape and teenage sex.
A stitch in time saves nine.

Mrs. Okwudili Martha
Principal, Spring of Life Int’l Schools, Enugu

ROLE MODEL
At the recently held call to the Bar at the Nigerian Law School, in Abuja, a lady stood out among others – Miss Viola-Nuela Echebima, Esq.
She had a first class at the University of Nigeria Nsukka and was the Best Graduating Student of the Law Class of 2016, UNN.
One year later, she repeated the feat, with a first class and the Best Graduating Student, Nigerian Law School Class of 2017.
If she could do it, you too can. You only need to work hard and remain focused.