IT IS incontestable that tradition brings a sense of security among people of a particular locality. With tradition, people come to rely on certain rituals and events that unify them, rekindle memories of the past, and keeps humans connected to the past. Culture, tradition and customs bind people together in one thread of love, obedience, and empathy. However, culture keeps evolving due to social contours and education. Tradition is associated with shared history, values, food, and language, among others. What makes tradition pivotal in societies is the fact that it gives people a sense of belonging and makes them feel part of the same group. Further, tradition gives people an idea of what is right and desirable, and what to do for them to be good persons in society. Notwithstanding the significance of tradition and culture in people’s lives, certain practices associated with tradition have over the years been discarded due to changing realities of life and unanticipated advents. Traditional practices which are detrimental to humans of different ages and fuel disease and poverty are no longer given space in modern society. This is unerringly the premise upon which Chief Pembamoyo of the Chewa in Vubwi district has banned teaching of the infamous bedroom dance during Chinamwali, a traditional ceremony which initiates girls into adulthood. The traditional leader has forbidden the sex-centred dance as part of his efforts to curb teen pregnancies and child marriages in his chiefdom. He has declared that a girl should never be taught bedroom dances when being initiated into adulthood after reaching puberty. Going forward, Chief Pembamoyo wants Chinamwali to just be an event during which girls should be taught how to take care of themselves and not bedroom issues. “We don’t allow women to teach children bedroom issues when they reach puberty. We also don’t allow them to teach a girl who has just reached puberty how to handle a man in bed like it used to be in the past,” he said through Induna Mbande. “We have told women only to teach girls how to take care of their bodies when they reach puberty.” The traditional leader has further debarred Gule Wamkulu during school days so that boys are not distracted from their studies. “We only allow Gule Wamkulu during holidays like this time around when we are preparing for Kulamba traditional ceremony. But during school days, we don’t allow Gule Wamkulu,” he said. Chief Pembamoyo’s decree has come at an opportune time when Government is implementing the free education policy in efforts to have all children access education at least up to Grade 12. Allowing traditional practices like bedroom dance among school-going girls exposes them to sexual knowledge which does not only divert their concentration on education but also premature pregnancies and child marriages. Because of teen pregnancies and child marriages, girls are forced to drop out of school and their dreams are shattered. Apart from dropping out of school, teen births also result in serious health consequences, such as children being more likely to be born pre-term, have lower birth weight, and higher neonatal mortality.On the other hand, teenage mothers experience greater rates of post-partum depression and they are less likely to initiate breastfeeding. Poverty, malnutrition, pregnancy complications, emotional problems such as depression, drug and alcohol use are all risks for the teenage mother. For child marriage, affected girls are exposed to increased risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, cervical cancer, suffering from malaria, dying during childbirth, and obstetric fistulas. Therefore, the chief’s decision to ban the bedroom dance should be supported by all Zambians who want to see girls advance in education and eventually contribute to national development.

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