‘I speak to my daughter about sex’ says single dad

Home / Our Health / ‘I speak to my daughter about sex’ says single dad
STI and condom week
SA is marking condom week.(Photo: file)
STI and condom week
SA is marking condom week.(Photo: file)
“It’s my responsibility as a single father to play a role in my children’s lives,” said Vusi Nkosi, who has talked to his daughter about contraception.“I don’t want my daughter to make the same mistakes I did by becoming a parent when I was a teenager. My single mother didn’t teach me about safe sex and the other risks of being sexually active. If fathers like me play our role in our daughters’ lives, they will not have to worry about unwanted pregnancies, HIV and sexually transmitted infections.”

Peer pressure

His daughter Siphokazi agreed. “With all the peer pressure I am happy my father is playing a huge role to make sure I don’t take unnecessary health risks, like having unprotected sex, using substances and dating older men.”

Nkosi said he would rather provide Siphokazi with answers to her questions than have her trying to get them from her peers.

Dumisile Nomsa Shabangu, a nurse in Gert Sibande district, said fathers should be encouraged to get involved in the lives of their teenage daughters.

“Some parents, especially fathers, still believe it’s the role of nurses or teachers to educate their children about issues related to sex, but parents can’t expect the government to take all responsibilities; parents should lead by example,” she said. – Health-e News

An edited version of this story was published by Health24.

Author

  • Cynthia Maseko

    Cynthia Maseko joined OurHealth in 2013 as a citizen journalist working in Mpumalanga. She is passionate about women’s health issues and joined Treatment Action Campaign branch as a volunteer after completing her matric. As an activist she has been involved with Equal Treatment, Planned Parenthood Association of South Africa, Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV and also with Marie Stopes Clinic’s project Blue Star dealing with the promotion of safe abortions and HIV education.

    View all posts

Free to Share

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.


Stay in the loop

We love that you love visiting our site. Our content is free, but to continue reading, please register.

Newsletter Subscription

Be in the know with our free weekly newsletter. We deliver a round-up of our top stories and insightful reads from across the web.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Enable Notifications OK No thanks