Safer Sex™
Teenagers. Tch. Can't teach 'em anything, eh? Particularly
when it comes to looking after their health.
This isn't a myth. A recent survey in the British Medical Journal looked
at 1,500 16-19 year-olds, and the effect of nurses at their local surgery
giving them advice on drinking, drugs, smoking, eating and exercise.
Only 40 per cent of the teenagers bothered to attend when invited. The
'positive behaviour change' among those who did was even more pathetic.
The nurses' sound advice, no doubt delivered with all the mateyness they
could muster, was only two per cent more effective than doing nothing
at all.
The results are unlikely to be different for advice on sex. Sex probably
wasn't included because a previous survey found that GPs (like most adults)
hate giving young people sex advice almost as much as young people hate
getting it. Any adult who's worked with teenagers is familiar with the
mixture of panic, hysteria and disgust - you might call it the 'Ew!' factor
- that attempts to tackle the subject head-on creates.
None of this advice seems to have any effect on the sexual risks teenagers
take. Rather the reverse - the 'Ew!' factor silences discussion, even
between friends. Meanwhile, an increasingly sexualised society implies
that unless you are constantly engaged in carefree bonking, you're totally
sad. Britney Spears may have been able to combine being a virgin with
dressing like a whore but few of her fans manage the same feat.
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The results are well known. The UK leads Europe in teenage pregnancy.
