Paper long abstract:

This paper is premised on the argument that there is a crisis on the socialization of the adolescents (boys and girls) in Kenyan urban centres due to collapse of traditional systems which espoused the gender perspective in socializing young people, especially on their sexuality. The collapse of traditional socialising systems engendered by the transition to urban social life in Kenya acts as the Achilles heel upon which contemporary adolescent sexuality is explained. Parents (Father and Mother) in urban canters have abdicated their complementary roles of socialization process within the family or offer confusing messages while boys and girls acquire fallacious sexuality knowledge from other sources which make them vulnerable on sexuality matters. Indeed, data abounds to the realization that contemporary adolescents engage in indiscriminate sexuality practices in Kenya due to socialization dilemma in the urban setup which is devoid of gender perspective , predisposing them to early pregnancies, STDS, HIV and AIDS, abortion, truancy, and early death. Modernization and Social Learning theories shall guide the discourse of this paper. Data for the paper shall be from secondary sources.