Make teenagers aware of birth control methods

Editor, This is in response to Sunny Ntayombya’s article,  Teenage pregnancies our fault”, (The New Times, February 6,).

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Editor,This is in response to Sunny Ntayombya’s article,  Teenage pregnancies our fault”, (The New Times, February 6,).Well done Sunny for bringing the topic of inadequate sex education into this discussion. Of course, most parents and teachers may feel that promoting abstinence is only preferable to students. The reality is that many, if not most teenagers, are not able to abstain. There is also plenty of evidence from other countries that abstinence only programmes actually don’t work. We can blame all manner of things - from music to Western culture to poor parenting. The point is that young people need to be equipped with the means to say no if they are not ready and given access to birth control devices, in particular, condoms, which also prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STIs).Charlotte, Kigali