We all have awkward moments as teenagers when the word sex was mentioned, and discomfort followed, especially because adults were present.

So look at this common scenario;

Child: "Mummy what is sex?"

Mum: "If you allow a boy touch you, you'll get pregnant and die".

This is basically what sex education for many Nigerian children growing up is.

But what is sex education?

Wikipedia says: Sex education is instruction on issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, age of consent, reproductive health, reproductive rights, safe sex, birth control and sexual abstinence.

Sex Education is pretty much the basic stuff. The Nigerian society has a weird obsession with morality, or the idea of it. There's the common misconception that teaching sex education to young people is an open endorsement of pre-marital sex, which is a wrong as it is ridiculous.

Sex education is like teach a person to drive. You teach people the basics of driving, like movement, and handling. What you don't teach is how to overspeed, or even ram the car into another person's car. These are consequences of decisions made by the driver.

When we teach young people about sex, and it's consequences, not only do we help them make better informed choices, we also save ourselves a greater problem.

Now, a child who doesn't learn about sex education for her parents, or teachers, is still going to learn anyway. But where? That right there is the problem. The learning sources are endless, whether it's their peers, or even the internet.

Whose job is this though, parents or teachers?

Sex education for most Nigerian parents ends at "DONT TOUCH BOYS" and in schools today, it's mostly just assembly talk.

But isn't it time we made this an integral part of the school curriculum? Where students don't just see it as assembly talk, but an essential part of their success as students. Where students need to learn self respect. Amongst other things.

A significant part of mistakes made by teenagers is just not a result of not understanding their choices. It's also how they don't fully understand the consequences of their actions.

Only one thing can make people make better informed choices; education.

There's no better time for us to do this, than now.