FEATURE: The other side of contraceptive

Sex among teenagers has regrettably become inevitable, particularly, in second cycle and tertiary institutions due to several factors not excluding peer pressure.

While religion is playing a key role to complement advocacy to ensure abstinence, social pressure is pushing our teenagers into very dangerous life habits.

These days, it is common to find students and pupils gleefully resorting to the use of aphrodisiacs to show their sexual prowess. Man Woman, Chinese Spray and all kinds of concoctions are being used as sexual enhancers without recourse to the potential side effects.

Some moralists had to succumb to the call on the youth to resort to the use of condoms to prevent diseases and avoid unwanted pregnancies because things were getting out of hand.

The advent of contraceptives was also meant to assist women take decisions whether and when to conceive. Experts posit that contraceptives even go beyond a woman’s decision to conceive or not. They argue that the use of contraceptives makes parents happier and marriages last longer.

Naturally, hormone-based birth control has some minor side effects such as headache, dizziness, breast tenderness, nausea, decreased libido and mood swings among others. However, doctors have assured that contraceptives are safe if taken according to prescriptions.

Sadly, that is not what is happening. Some sexually active adolescents are abusing all kinds of drugs in the name of preventing pregnancy.

The famous Postinor 2 is now daily pills for some teenagers in Senior High Schools. Due to rampant sex, these teens have resorted to taking the pill on an almost daily basis after each bout of sex.

But, experts have warned that the misuse of the pills could create liver problems and have suggested that emergency contraceptive pills should be used only twice in a year or 10 times in one’s lifetime.

The DAILY HERITAGE wants to stress that abuse of everything is dangerous, most especially, pills that have direct contact with vital organs in a woman’s system. We, thus, urge our teenagers to be cautious about the use of contraceptives, lest they develop complications in future when they are ready to conceive.