Psychologist Gladys Chania (centre) poses for a photo with some of the participants in the Young Parents workshop at a Thika hotel, Monday. [Photo/

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The recent spate of domestic violence and murders in many Kiambu homes has been attributed to the society opting to 'bury its head in the sand' on controversial topics such as intimacy and shared responsibilities.Right@Home Rehab Centre CEO  Gladys Chania speaking to young parents at a forum in a Thika hotel on Monday said there was a growing problem within many Kiambu and Kenyan homes today and that the children were at a higher risk of growing up in dysfunctional or broken homes than it was in the yesteryears.“Parents are no longer preparing their children for adulthood. Most people are getting into marriage with very little or no knowledge of what it entails to be in a marriage. No one is bold enough to tackle certain topics that have over the years been regarded as immoral," said Chania.She added: "Young couples are eventually finding themselves in a dilemma when certain challenges come along their way but have no one to run to for solutions due to traditional and religious handicaps, ending up being distressed and frustrated with themselves."Chania says that as modernity edges out tradition, more and more families are finding themselves at crossroads due to the ‘fake ideas’ of families they are exposed to in the electronic media and on the internet.She noted that today’s young couple has to deal with intense peer pressure due to a tendency to compare themselves with their peers in terms of social and economic progress."Some young couples have made WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter their teacher as well as their most intimate friends, totally ending up being displaced by virtual reality. The challenge is grave since it affects growing relationships, especially for those dating, almost getting married, or areyoung and married,” she said.Conflicts within young relationships, she further noted, were as a result of attitude problems, saying that marriages were never a competition to bring the ‘what a man can do, a woman can do better’.Is there a newsworthy accident, incident or event happening in Kiambu that you want Hivisasa to cover? Tell us what is happening by joining this group and have it published.