Pakistani parents are reluctant to discuss reproductive health issues with their adolescent and growing children and as a result both male and female teenagers, lack proper knowledge about puberty related issues. This results in them towing spurious myths regarding reproductive matters and leaves them unprepared for coping with physical and emotional changes associated with adolescence.
Nazim Jamia Naeemia’s Maulana Raghib Hussain Naeemi said that “One of the main reasons of societal decay is that neither parents nor teachers provide any guidance to children entering the age of adulthood, the period also known as adolescence. The chances of children going astray persist if they were not provided with proper guidance on this issue”.
Puberty is that delicate junction in the life of a human being in which the body undergoes key physical and emotional changes. This natural process is due to hormonal changes, which prepares the body for adulthood. Islam stresses on imparting this knowledge to children to ensure their safety from self harm and harm from sexual predators. Naeemi said that “It is a parent’s duty to prepare children for this phase of life and provide support and guidance on the various physiological and sexual changes of puberty”. It is binding upon parents and teachers to guide children as to how to accept the changes of puberty and how to deal with them. They must also teach them how to choose the best company among people they know and how to engage in safer activities, taking into account the basic differences between girls and boys as narrated by Islam.”
