Parents should not tell their young teenage children that it is wrong to have sex, ministers said yesterday.Because ‘openness’ is the new buzzword.
They should curb their tongues for fear of discouraging youngsters from 'being open', according to a campaign to involve mothers and fathers in sex education.
If I read one piece at the weekend on how Jade Goody’s public car-crash wedding was being ‘open’ about cervical cancer/dying/how to ensure children cope with loss, I read hundreds…
But, while parents are warned against giving moral guidance, they are encouraged to get their children to use condoms and other contraception from the age of 13.So, if parents aren’t supposed to give ‘moral guidance’, who is…?
They should offer to go with their teenagers to their GP or a sex advice clinic to get contraceptives, the advice recommended.
And is anyone going to point out that the age of consent isn’t 13?
Children's Minister Beverley Hughes said parents should assist teenage children if they are sexually active. 'We want parents to help young people to resist the pressure to have early sex, but also to explain the importance of using contraception if and when they do decide to have sex,' she said.The governments track record on this is starting to show signs of strain:
The effort to recruit parents to reinforce the Government's failing 'teenage pregnancy strategy' comes as ministers are braced for the release of damning figures on pregnancies among under-18s.So, telling them about sex and contraception isn’t working. So, let’s tell even more of them. That’ll work…
They will show - as disclosed by the Daily Mail in December - that in 2007 the teen pregnancy rate defied Government expectations by going up, not down.
Mrs Hughes and her colleagues have already tried to revamp their strategy - which is based on universal sex education and wide distribution of contraception - by ordering compulsory sex education in primary schools.
The attempt to recruit parents to give state-approved advice to their children is backed by the production of leaflets, to be available in chemists' shops.If you need ‘training’ in this sort of thing, and look to the state to provide it, perhaps you aren’t up to the task of being a parent in the first place?
There will also be a £530,000 handout to the fpa - once known as the Family Planning Association - to provide training for parents who want to advise their children on sex.
Just a thought…
Is the government planning to point out that the highest risk factor for cervical cancer is having sex with someone who infects you with the wrong human papillomavirus types?
ReplyDeleteAnd that while condoms can prevent this kind of infection, they are not infallible - from time to time, they break or the wearer experiences 'slippage'.
Given that HPV itself occurs from having sex with multiple partners, it seems to me that the government should be at least suggesting abstinence as a serious way forward.
But it will be a cold day in hell etc etc
Thanks for that. Good stuff. In fact I've borrowed it and blogged on it myself here. But don't worry - I have acknowledged it:-)
ReplyDelete"And that while condoms can prevent this kind of infection, they are not infallible.."
ReplyDeleteThat always seems to be missed out of government propaganda - the Righteous seem to regard condoms as some kind of magic talisman, rather than an engineering solution that is only as good as its materials and installation process....
"In fact I've borrowed it and blogged on it myself here. "
Cool - the more people get to see this kind of attitude in the government's handmaidens, the better.
Nice blog, too, btw...