Safe and sorted...for condoms and pregnancy 'advice'
Ed West has posted an interesting piece on his Telegraph Blog. I commented that Moulescoumb (I can never spell it right) is one of Brighton's most deprived estates and, as far as I know, the only region of Brighton to have its very own free condom and sexual health/pregnancy 'advice' centre. Take a look at the 'Swish' website. You can travel through the centre and also see how the place is ran. Click for a more general overview of the work of the Council in combating teen pregnancy including how to top up your 'C-Card' (condom credit cards!), advice on 'Pregnancy Options' and other such information...if you can stop yourself from putting your head through your monitor because yours or other people's children are having this stuff rammed down their throats...
Still whatever the faults with Brighton & Hove City Council's obvious wish to see that less Moulescoumbers come into this World and their largely distasteful attitude towards sex education, hats off to the head of the department who had the courage to publish one letter from an angry mother...
Subject: My 14 year old daughter
I am absolutely furious to have discovered that my daughter has twice been issued with condoms, please could you explain how you appear to have gained parental rights as I am horrified. Thankfully, she hasn't used them but all you are doing in supplying girls of her age is making them feel older than they are. I have not agreed to you giving my daughter contraception, this is utterly wrong, Upset Parent, Brighton
Response:
I’m sorry you feel furious about this. Under 16s do have the right to access sexual health services in a confidential manner without parental consent, this includes condoms. This is the case across England, not just Brighton and Hove. Parental involvement and engagement would always be encouraged by workers when they are talking with teenagers. Your daughter would have requested to have the condoms, and workers would not refuse this. She would not have been given them without her either wanting them, or requesting them. Condoms would always be given out within a sexual health and relationships discussion, particularly within Brighton and Hove within the C-Card Scheme. This would have included discussion about knowing when the right time is to begin a sexual relationship. We very much promote the message 'to wait until you feel ready' and support young people in their skills development to resist the pressures that are all around them in society to start being sexually active. The average age nationally that young people start having sex is now 16, so we need to be realistic about this issue.
Whenever we promote condom use we always would state that you don't have to be having sex, even thinking about sex to actually have access to condoms, its about education. All the evidence that exists on sex education supports an open and honest approach and issuing condoms in no way promotes or encourages earlier sexual activity. In other European countries who have the lowest rates of teenage pregnancy and STIs its clear its because they have a much more open and honest approach to sexuality and provide contraceptive services, sex education from a young age, this is from sex education in schools, in the home environment and also from vital confidential services we offer.
Please do contact me if you would like to discuss this further.
3 comments:
Marie Stopes, the high priestess of freely available contraception, believed that the poor were having too many children. As a proponent of eugenics (also endorsed by the Nazis) she believed that this would lead to a deterioration of the "breeding stock" of the nation.
Such an ideology sees people as no better than farm animals. The Condom Shop is the visible face of this mentality.
We don't want the chavs breeding, do we?
I think that's the Council line.
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