A school proprietress, Mrs Mary Akinkuotu of Greenville Liberty School, Ayobo, Lagos, has called on parents to refrain from adorning their female wards with short and skimpy outfits in the name of fashion.
Akinkuotu, who gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday, in Lagos, on the occasion of the 2021 children’s day celebrations, observed that such over dressing for kids, especially the girl child, had led to rape.
“The issue of over dressing for children, wanting them to look more beautiful out of excitement, over blowing birthday celebrations, has contributed immensely to increase in defilement and rape cases.
“There was a study I stumbled on sometimes where some of these rapists were interviewed. The rapists claimed they were attracted to younger ones because they appeared even more beautiful than their mothers.
“When you dress up a child in such a way that the sensitive parts of her body are exposed, you are making that child vulnerable and more attractive to paedophiles.
“A situation where a parent does a heavy make up and puts on a skimpy outfit for a five-year old girl in the name of making her look ‘sexy’ is appalling.
Akinkuotu further pointed out that sex education had been ineffective in Nigeria, because it ought to start with the parent, the moment a child was able to differentiate between father and mother.
“Sex education that we use in the Nigerian context has not really helped these children, because what they see is different from what we are teaching, even the people that are supposed to deliver the curriculum are not trained to emphasise certain things that will be in line with the age requirements of these children.
“Once a child can recognize the father and mother, sex education should begin. It is not all sex education that we teach in the classroom, it must start with parents.
“For instance, if you have a male child and the second is a female, teach the male child to respect his sister and set boundaries on where to touch on her body and where not to,” she said.
Akinkuotun enjoined parents to manage their children properly and use the appropriate parenting styles in training them.
