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{
    "id": 1268906,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1268906/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 233,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Buuri, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Mugambi Rindikiri",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "and omitted from the curriculum. There is nothing wrong with teaching children about growing up as responsible citizens and how to take care of their bodies. Hon. Temporary Speaker, you will notice there are high levels of teen pregnancies. Why does a nine-year child get pregnant? First, it shows there is absence of parents, the community, community leadership, and even the church. The child is supposed to be guided right from the start. The first step is the parent. Go out there and you will find that children who are getting pregnant are from very poor families, or marginalised communities, or from parents who are into alcohol and drugs. I have an example of someone from Kitui County. She said that she met a family of a child who got pregnant. Asked, the girl said her mother told her to go and stop buses and truck drivers. We have a serious problem because we have abandoned our children. It is high time we came back to our children. One way of coming back to this responsibility is to have it entrenched in the education curriculum because some of these children’s parents have no time. Their aunties and brothers have no time. Even the church has no time to monitor the way a child behaves. I am not talking about girls only but also boys. This is very important. Children have to be exposed. I remember a long time ago when my sisters were taught how to knit. In the process, they were told, “You are knitting this one for your husband.” It could also be for your mother and so on. They were taught responsibilities. Many children have to be taught about responsibilities. They need to know their biological make-up. I am a very proud Member of Parliament because whenever I go to girls’ schools I tell them the areas of their bodies they need to protect the most, that is, right from the start. If you see me outside, I will for sure show you what I tell my girls to protect. It is very important. There is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with having it in the curriculum that a girl needs to protect herself this way or that way. A boy needs to be taught the benefit of growing up as a whole person. It is upon all of us to do it. Therefore, it is very important because what is going to happen in the long-term in this country is that we are going to have many youth mothers who will leave the burden to their children, parents, and grandparents. There will be a very high level of dependency if we continue in the manner we are doing. Boys are impregnating girls. Why? Girls think they are having fun because they are exposed to many sexual options. We need to tell them these options will be there and nobody is going to prevent them. However, our children need to be taught what to avoid: when to say yes and when to say no. The level of diseases has been spoken about. There is diminishing child population in many schools. Once a child has got pregnant or a boy impregnates a girl, they tend to run away from the community. They tend to run away from mainstream education. They tend to run away from church. These are the symptoms of a diminishing population. I support that we bring back the basics of early sexual education, the basics of early sexual responsibilities, and the basics of early monitoring of our children. That is so that they know they will be parents one day. That they cannot be responsible parents when they exploit and misuse their biological advantages. Therefore, I support this Motion. Member for Kirinyaga County, it is very important. We need to think beyond so that we do not mistake it for teaching children how to practise sex. No. This is not teaching how to practise sex. It is teaching children that people do sex when it is required and appropriately. That it is not done with every Tom, Dick and Harry in town."
}