MAYBE youths would be more cognisant of sexual education if the society was more opened to having discussion about it, Ruth Chisholm, country and programme manager at the Population Services International (PSI), has theorised.

“If we are empowered to have the dialogue with the youths and the households, then the challenges that we are facing wouldn’t be so stark,” Chisholm told the Jamaica Observer yesterday. “If more conversations were happening with the young people it would be better.”

“The dialogue situation at home is one of the key challenges we are facing,” she continued, noting that Jamaica has a culture in which parents, and even school teachers, are hesitant to talk to their charges about the risks associated with sexual intercourse.

According to Chisholm, the PSI, in tandem with government agencies and other human rights groups have been working hard to bolster an atmosphere of dialogue between child-care providers and their children.

Some of the other challenges that Chisholm and her team highlighted were the general acceptance of early sexual engagement, incest, and the counter-influence dancehall music has on promoting sex education.