Still in school, forget sex says Blackbird

Standard People
BY WINSTONE ANTONIO AND KUNDAI MARUNYANoku Vundla, popularly known as Blackbird, has added her voice on the “great condom debate” about having condoms available in schools at a discussion held at the US Information Centre in Harare, urging stakeholders to preach the word of abstinence.

“Condoms cannot protect you from emotional scars and spiritual damage that comes after engaging in pre and extramarital sex,” said Blackbird. Blackbird said different stakeholders should be involved so as to keep on preaching the gospel of abstinence as the only way of protecting one from emotional scars and spiritual damage.

She added that people must keep on educating each other on things that are hurting people and never say that they are over-preached.“When a child keeps on playing with fire, we keep on rebuking it, we can never leave one to get burnt simply because there has been a repeated forewarning,” she said.

During the discussion, a number of the audiences that included students from various schools and colleges agreed that premarital sex was the reason why most marriages failed these days.

“I have had experience in counselling and have observed that most marriages fail as a result of men or women who have had experience in sex before marriage,” said one contributor.

Blackbird has challenged youths to focus on their school work and hobbies and follow their passion rather than engaging in early sexual activities. The female rapper and editor of a hip-hop magazine, The Platform however acknowledged that premarital sex cases were on an increase but added that condoms at schools would only exacerbate the practice.

“If a pupil feels old enough to have sex, let him or her go and get the condoms at the shops or wherever they are found, not in schools,” said Blackbird. “If they are ashamed of buying condoms it means they are not old enough to have sex. They should wait until the right time.”

“If you find it to be a tough decision or if you are shy, it therefore means that you are not the ideal candidate of having sex and you have to wait until the right time.”

She also urged parents to discuss with their children issues concerning condoms and sex as a way of bringing awareness to the youths about the dangers to them of such practices.

“Parents should be free to discuss the issue of condoms with their children and encourage them not to engage in early sexual activities as a way of protecting themselves rather than making condoms available in schools,” she said.

Blackbird also appealed to her fellow artists and media practitioners to help in the preaching of the gospel to the youths across the country.

“My appeal is to my fellow artists and journalists as well to become proactive in the debate as a way of reaching a greater and wider audience across the nation so as to educate the youths about this issue of condoms.”