Pupils told they have a ‘right’ to a good sex life

Sex Education for Teens – is this the right way?

In a bid to lower teenager pregnancy a leaflet has been produced by the NHS that tells teens that sex should not only be enjoyable but it is good for your health!

Now while I have to agree that the “sex is bad, don’t do it” message is not working I have to question is this really the only other alternative?

So I asked my sexual health expert Clare Hanbury for her thoughts.

This leaflet is another typically incomplete sex education strategy which will do more harm than good. I totally agree with the idea behind this i.e. that we all have a right to a good sex life and that the messages youngsters hear are often inappropriately fear laden and fear driven. However, most youngsters will ignore the ‘sex is bad’ tack as many of them are experiencing the opposite and are immersed in a youth culture that happily celebrates sex.

Like many health related ‘messages’, sexual and reproductive health messages are complex. To make messages work well and be meaningful to young people, they need to take account of young people’s culture, gender and age. A headline message, such as “An orgasm a day keeps the doctor away”…is a catchy, memorable message that you can imagine being repeated on playgrounds across the land. It is also untrue. Does a rapist’s orgasm keep the doctor away from his victim? An extreme example maybe but thinking about it adds a slice of complexity that this debate deserves. This stupid, superficial message about orgasms is also a message from mainstream culture that adds to the pressure or to the feelings of inadequacy for those young people who do not feel ready to have sex. It may add to a feeling of alienation at a time when they are vulnerable and may lead to them taking high risks.

What I want for our young people is that they feel supported in their choice to have sex or not to have sex, that they have sex at an age when they understand and have had a chance to discuss the physical and emotional pitfalls. How we get there is to build strong relationships with our young people –in families and schools. It is only within such relationships that discussions with about complex choices can be had with young people. These discussions need to include messages and information, yes but they also need to include skills (such as the skill to say, ‘No’), motivations, friendships, values, pressures…This and only this is the way to protect our youngsters from the devastating, life-changing consequences of an unwanted pregnancy.

What do you think?

Pupils told they have a ‘right’ to a good sex life: That’s the advice for youngsters from the NHS
Could teens be fed a more dangerous message than being told sex is their human right – and good for them?