Teacher’s Mind: There is no ‘sugar’ in sugar daddies

Many of my readers may not be aware of the song Carolina but since this is an educational column I do not blame them much. However the above song seems to really address the cancer (yes I consider it to be one) that is cross generational sex in our society. Ugandan artist, Bobi Wine recently released a song titled Carolina in which he exhorts the heavy price girls pay for choosing sex over their studies. He talks about a very beautiful girl who was also bright in school. However the girl later got sexually involved with a man who disappeared soon after making her pregnant. She later dropped out of school and settled for a job as a barmaid. The song ends with the artist biblically calling on those with ears to listen and those with eyes to see. He cautions school girls never to give to demands for relationships because the fruits of a good education are always sweeter. The Ministry of Youth recently launched a six month campaign against cross generational sex fittingly dubbed ‘Sinigurisha’ meaning I am not for sale. The term cross generational sex seems to be a mouthful of vocabulary that adds a degree of softness to the crisis at hand. The available statistics seem to show the prevalence of older men sleeping with younger girls than older women and young boys. The motivation for this type is sex is often the expectation of gifts and money by the younger girls. For the men, the misconception that the young virgin school girls are HIV free and less demanding compared to women of their generation is what draws them. Ironically as these men try to avoid contracting HIV by going for virgin girls, some of them instead infect the innocent girls with the deadly virus. As if that is not enough some leave the girls with unwanted pregnancies that tragically slow down the girls’ academic progress. As a teacher, I think we need to put more effort in talking to the girls about the high risk that comes with such relationships. Schools ought to utilise the female teachers to regularly have talks with the girls on this issue and how it can best be dealt with. Girls should always be reminded of the benefits of sticking to their education instead of going out for cheap goods that cannot buy them the valuable education that brought them to school. The commonest gift that girls expect from these sugar daddies is often the now very cheap mobile phones. On this issue, schools need to be very strict and vigilant. I can safely say that 95 percent of the students who smuggle phones to school are those that got them from sugar daddies. Just think of it this way, an innocent girl contracting HIV in exchange for a fake Chinese Nokia phone. How outrageous? Some of these sugar daddies are even brave enough to visit their school-going girlfriends at school. They take advantage of the fact that some girls are orphans or will not be visited by their poor parents. I have sometimes seen girls who struggle to go home by public means being visited by older gentlemen with a car every month. From experience, it is easy for me to tell such fellows from genuine parents. The sugar daddies often are unsure of the girl’s class or even the subjects she is offering (if she is in O level). Others cannot even recall the girl’s second name. I suggest that schools devise ways of identifying students’ visitors and those unable to adequately explain their relationship to the student should not only be allowed to enter the school. In a nutshell this cancer of cross generational be addressed when all stakeholders are involved. Students, teachers, parents, school authorities and government agencies should all work together to tackle the problem from its different angles otherwise the future of the girl child is being compromised. ssenyonga@gmail.com