Zimpapers Logo

Chipo Mazarura Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University
We have been brought up in a society that believes that it is inappropriate and unacceptable for parents to discuss certain behavioural issues with their children.

The result is that most children grow up without knowledge of how they are supposed to conduct themselves in certain circumstances.

What makes the situation more difficult for some children is that, in some cases, the absence of parents, they have raised themselves.

When these children move up to university, they carry with them what they were exposed to since they were young and most of their hope for knowledge and transformation lies in the campus orientation. However, their zeal to be enlightened and empowered will come to naught because the objectives of orientation fall short of expectations.

During orientation, those who conduct the programmes focus more on issue of their institution’s rules, informing students about how they should comply with the rules and the consequences of deviating from those rules. They fail to understand that teaching students rules without teaching them behavioural issues is an exercise in futility.

Representatives of institutions conducting orientation programmes assume that every student knows how to behave. They forget that students come from different backgrounds.

Sometimes students are taught things like sex but things that concern sexuality are usually left out. Students are simply told to play safe without being specific about what playing safe and how they should play safe.

This position, on the part of institutions, is informed by the belief that students have already been taught these things at home or because those leading the orientation programmes believe that such issues should not be subjected to open discussion.

Some Christian institutions believe that all students are Christians. The reasoning is therefore that such students/youths are not involved in matters sexual. There is a failure to appreciate that even students raised in a Christian environment daily indulge in sexual activities.

The absence of advice on possible protective measures to students is evident in the rise in sexually transmitted infections and abortions.

Almost every day there are painful stories of students succumbing to HIV or AIDS, or dying as a result of abortions yet campus orientation programmes should equip students with such knowledge and skills on protecting themselves from unplanned pregnancies as well as diseases.

Institutions need to appreciate that students require such information for them to start addressing these issues. Sometimes telling us is not enough.

There is need to show us the “how” part, if need be by conducting workshops where boys are separated from girls to enable unfettered discussions.

Of course, the intention is not to encourage them to indulge, but to enable the students to make informed choices.

During campus orientation programmes, girls are advised not to abort in the event of falling pregnant. However, no options are proffered for the girl who realizes she is pregnant with an unplanned pregnancy.

An unplanned pregnancy is the scariest thing for a student. That is why the first thing that comes to mind is abortion. It is because there are no options. But perhaps, prevention is better than cure.

Most girls resort to abortion not because they do not know the dangers. It is because of the absence of alternative solutions.

Even most of the boys do not take responsibility for their actions. It is because they do not know how to, especially when confronted with the reality of a pregnancy.

I believe these are some of the issues that require attention during campus orientation programmes. It is imperative for institutions to appreciate that what they teach students during orientation programmes is not just meant for the duration of their study programmes. The knowledge and skills imparted should sustain students when they go into the real world, the post-university world.