Religion, parents and children in Nigerian peace education: A Roman Catholic behavioral parent training curriculum

Abstract

Worldwide, 120 million girls are violated; 90% by family members, boyfriends/husbands, or known persons. In Nigeria: A) 1 out of 4 girls; 10% of boys are victims yet only 5 out of 100 children who report receive support. B) Poverty, social norms and cultural beliefs keep 10.5 million children of 5-14 years out-of-school. In Africa, the Catholic Church educates over 19 million children in 45,088 primary schools. As a Catholic priest, for the past 25 years, I have dealt with multiple cases of teenage pregnancy, physical child abuse and children out-of-school in Guinea Conakry, Mexico, and Nigeria. Therefore, given the Churches response to Clergy children sex abuse based on reporting cases, I propose a behaviour Parent Training Lessons (BPTLs) as a holistic way of minimizing children abuse. BPTLs transform poor parenting cultures—social norms and community beliefs that derive violence against children. It makes parenting semi-public and semi-professional.