Family

Youth

Future

Bulletin 101: Autumn 2000

In this issue:

Sex Under Sixteen?
A date for your diary
Director’s Message
…and from the Founder President
Sex and Relationship Education Guidance
Sexually Transmitted Infections
Same Sex ‘Marriage’
Amen to that!
Bequests and Legacies
Book Reviews
Special Offers
ChildLine


Sex Under Sixteen?

In September the Trust published the results of its largest research project, a detailed and comprehensive study of the attitudes towards sexual relationships of over 2000 young people aged 13-15.

The results of the survey were truly remarkable, and should provide much food for thought, not least to those responsible for devising sex education programmes. For example, only a minority of under-16s (17{8280f91348e3f29ebed1ce3c892ba98723ca403e09ee85e84c65855822b2f2c6}) in this large sample – are sexually active. Furthermore, young people are still, on the whole, quite traditional in the way in which they view personal relationships, particularly in their own lives. 69{8280f91348e3f29ebed1ce3c892ba98723ca403e09ee85e84c65855822b2f2c6} disagreed with the statement that ‘marriage is old-fashioned and no longer relevant’ and 89{8280f91348e3f29ebed1ce3c892ba98723ca403e09ee85e84c65855822b2f2c6} saw their own lives in terms of getting married.

Amongst the most significant findings relate to the circumstances in which young people embark on sexual relationships. When asked why young people do not always use contraception when they have sex, the largest response (29{8280f91348e3f29ebed1ce3c892ba98723ca403e09ee85e84c65855822b2f2c6}) was that ‘sex is unplanned’. This is confirmed by the answers given by those who were already sexually active to the question: ‘What was it made you decide to have sex that first time?’. 30{8280f91348e3f29ebed1ce3c892ba98723ca403e09ee85e84c65855822b2f2c6} (the largest group) said ‘it just happened’, 19{8280f91348e3f29ebed1ce3c892ba98723ca403e09ee85e84c65855822b2f2c6} were drunk, 6{8280f91348e3f29ebed1ce3c892ba98723ca403e09ee85e84c65855822b2f2c6} were talked into it by their partners, 3{8280f91348e3f29ebed1ce3c892ba98723ca403e09ee85e84c65855822b2f2c6} cited peer pressure and a worrying 4{8280f91348e3f29ebed1ce3c892ba98723ca403e09ee85e84c65855822b2f2c6} (all girls) said they had no choice. If we add these together, it seems that about two-thirds of these young people had not made a conscious decision to engage in a sexual relationship.

These answers put another question mark over the official government policy on teenage pregnancy. Young people are not getting pregnant because they do not know where babies come from, or because there are not enough outlets to provide them with contraception. Of the girls in the sample who had been pregnant, 45{8280f91348e3f29ebed1ce3c892ba98723ca403e09ee85e84c65855822b2f2c6} had either wanted to become pregnant or did not mind one way or the other. Only 12{8280f91348e3f29ebed1ce3c892ba98723ca403e09ee85e84c65855822b2f2c6} thought that contraception was difficult to get hold of. Young girls are getting pregnant because they are drifting, or being pushed, into relationships which they are not ready to handle.

Only 17{8280f91348e3f29ebed1ce3c892ba98723ca403e09ee85e84c65855822b2f2c6} of the young people in our sample were sexually active, but when we break down their responses, we find two very revealing factors. Firstly, the influence of the peer group was obvious. Only 4{8280f91348e3f29ebed1ce3c892ba98723ca403e09ee85e84c65855822b2f2c6} of young people whose friends were not sexually active were sexually active themselves. Amongst those whose friends were sexually active, the figure was 43{8280f91348e3f29ebed1ce3c892ba98723ca403e09ee85e84c65855822b2f2c6}. Secondly, the influence of the home was critical. Children from broken homes were twice as likely to be sexually active as children living with both parents.

If the government is serious about addressing the problem of teenage pregnancy, it needs to address the underlying problem of the increasing number of children growing up in single-parent families and other non-traditional family types. Funding groups which run teenage sex clinics will do little, if anything, to help, nor will more explicit sex education at younger ages. Indeed, the findings of our survey suggest that much government-sponsored sex education is already out of touch with young peoples needs and aspirations, which tend towards marriage and stability. We must listen to what the young people in this survey are telling us, and help them to reach their goals in life.

It is important for this research to be brought to the attention of local education and health authorities in every county in the country. We will all do what we can to help.

Sex Under Sixteen? is priced at £15.00. However, members and subscribers to Family Bulletin can purchase a copy for £5.00 post free.

 

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A date for your diary

The next Annual General Meeting and conference of the Family Education Trust will be held on Saturday 23 June 2001 at the Royal Air Force Club in London. Details will follow.

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Director’s message

We have now moved into our new office in Waterloo, which we will be sharing with CIVITAS: The Institute for the Study of Civil Society. The two organisations will be working together on family issues, where there is complete agreement between us. Moving office is a rather traumatic experience – akin to moving house – and things have been made difficult by the usual delays in finishing the building work, so we have been struggling a bit to maintain the traditional standard of hyper-efficiency!

I would like to thank members for bearing with us, and assure them that we are nearly there now. I feel sure that we are on the verge of an exciting and challenging time in the life of Family and Youth Concern. We must find new ways to carry forward the vital work for the family into a new millennium which will build on the achievement of the last thirty years.

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…and from the Founder President

Now that I am beginning to enjoy a less arduous life I want to take this opportunity to thank all of those who have sent me such appreciative and heart-warming messages following my retirement from the day-to-day activities of the work. Each one has been much appreciated.

I would also like to say how very pleased and confident I am with the new arrangements for the future of Family & Youth Concern which has been so dear to my heart. That a great challenge lies ahead there is no doubt but I know that the work will be safe in the capable hands of Robert Whelan, just as I know that he will do all he can to ensure that the future developments of the Trust will be successfully achieved.

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Sex and Relationship Education Guidance

Teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, both now at record levels, arise from teenage intercourse. This may seem obvious, but it needs to be stressed, because the new Sex and Relationships Guidance from the Department of Education and Employment (DfEE 0116/2000) pins its hopes on contraception rather than chastity, which is not mentioned (2.10). Following valiant efforts in parliament, the Guidance warmly supports marriage, although this should be read in context (1.21). It also says that schools should give young people a clear understanding of the arguments for delaying sexual activity and resisting pressure (1.18): this is good.

But the Guidance refers twice to ‘safe sex’ (as if there is such a thing) and many times to ‘safer sex’. Indeed they say that a ‘key point’ is that: ‘young people need to know not just what safer sex is and why it is important but also how to negotiate it with a partner’. (2.22)

We believe that the validation of adolescent use of contraception in school sex education over the past thirty years has been a significant factor in the sexual tragedies which now abound. However, the Guidance claims that ‘research demonstrates that good, comprehensive sex and relationship education does not make young people more likely to enter into sexual activity’ (1.7). The sketchy and unsatisfactory nature of the research into outcomes of sex education offers no grounds for such a definite statement, and findings published in some medical journals suggest otherwise.

Parents are entitled to a say in the formulation of school policy, and indeed are described as ‘key people’ (5.3). But ‘trained staff in secondary schools should be able to give young people full information about different types of contraception, including emergency contraception’ and ‘can also give the pupils – individually and as a class – additional information and guidance on where they can obtain confidential advice, counselling and, where necessary, treatment’ (2.11). Such treatment is based on the ‘Fraser Guidelines’, in guidance issued by the Health Education Authority, Brook Advisory Centres and others (7.16). Thus the DfEE Guidance is based on policies and agencies which, in our view, have contributed to the tragedies they allegedly address. Promotion of ’emergency contraception’ may massage statistics, but will do nothing to promote stable homes for the next generation. And parents who disagree with the underlying philosophy will have precious little scope for protecting their children from false doctrine infecting the whole peer group.

We call on the DfEE to investigate the concept of ‘abstinence education’, said to be producing good results in the USA; and on the Government to amend the legal situation by which under-age children can be given life-threatening drugs and treatment, including abortions, without either parental knowledge or consent or Court Order.

Jack Proom

 

Sex & Relationship Education Guidance is obtainable free from DfEE Publictions by telephoning 0845 6022 260 or by downloading it on the web at www.dfee.gov.uk/sreguidance/ We advise members to obtain a copy.

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Sexually Transmitted Infections

The twin claims which used to be made for sex education in schools were that it would reduce teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. We know sex education programmes have accompanied a rapid and alarming rise in pregnancies amongst young people, but what about STIs? It is much more difficult to obtain statistics in this area. The official body responsible for data collection is the Public Health Laboratory Service which has recently produced the Annual Review of Communicable Diseases – the first in a proposed series – containing a brief chapter on STIs. Although it compares figures for only two years – 1996 and 1997 – and does not give a complete breakdown by age, there is enough to see that the rapid increases in STIs are occurring amongst those in their late teens and early twenties.

More detailed information can be found on the website www.phls.co.uk/facts/STI/sti.htm which gives age-breakdowns of several STIs going back five years. The table showing chlamydia infection in females, given below, shows how young women are bearing the brunt of the infections, which can have serious long-term consequences for their health.

The PHLS has announced the publication, planned for the end of this year, of Trends in Sexually Transmitted Infections in the UK for 1990-1999. This will hopefully provide more detailed information on the spread of this class of diseases, estimated by the World Bank as imposing a greater burden of morbidity in developed market economies than any other group of infectious diseases.*

*World Bank, World Development Report 1993, Investing in Health. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

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Same-sex ‘marriage’

Readers will be aware that the homosexual lobby has been mounting a campaign for homosexual ‘marriage’ to be legalised as a human right as one item on their agenda. Mary Macleod, head of the government’s National Family & Parenting Institute was headlined in the Sunday Telegraph (29.4.00) as saying that it would be inevitable under the Human Rights Act coming into force on October 2nd. She has subsequently denied to us that she made any such claim. Nevertheless her comment evoked a pertinent letter from Lord Tebbitt on October 2nd, as follows:

“This is no more ‘inevitable’ than the transition from capitalism through socialism to communism, which we were once told would be the inevitable march of progress.

“There is no inequality between homosexuals and heterosexuals in our present marriage law. Any man is free (subject to the provisions against incest and bigamy) to marry any woman and any woman to marry any man. Homosexuals wish to hijack the word ‘marriage’ as they have hijacked the word ‘gay’. They are as free to share their bed with others of their choosing as are heterosexuals. They may if they wish devise ceremonies to mark a decision to set up partnerships, but those are not and should not be described as marriages.

“The human rights argument is bogus and dangerous. If sodomites have a human right to marry, would it not be ‘inevitable’ for paedophiles to establish their human right to child sex and ‘inevitably’ would follow those with a taste for bestiality.

 “Marriage is available to all. The problem is that homosexuals do not find it to their liking.”

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Amen to that!

The brilliant, if somewhat waspish, columnist A N Wilson wrote an encomium on marriage in the Evening Standard (19 June 2000). Speaking of how moved he had been at the wedding of two friends, he wrote: ‘Those of us who have botched and broken our marriage vows hear them all the more eagerly as ideals to follow. It is absurd to talk of an “equivalence” between marriage and other ways of living together, homosexual or heterosexual. There is no equivalence to this marvellous gesture of publicly declared hope and belief in one another and the future.’

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Bequests and legacies

With the significant interest in operating costs associated with the move to London, we are particularly appreciative of several generous bequests made to us by former members in the past year. I have also been told of at least four other members who have included the Trust in their wills, and while we hope that it will be many years before we benefit from these legacies, it is good to know that this future support for the Trust’s work will be forthcoming.

May I encourage others to include the Trust in their wills, as such bequests also reduce the liability for inheritance tax. Further information and wording of codicils are available from HQ.

Simon Ling, Treasurer

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Book Reviews

Marriage-Lite: The Rise of Cohabitation and its Consequences,
Patricia Morgan, Civitas, London
ISBN 1-903 386-04-7. Available from HQ, £5.00, post free.

Politicians and pundits often treat cohabitation and marriage as essentially the same, with marriage dismissed as no more than a ‘piece of paper’. In this thorough review of the research findings, Patricia Morgan shows that they are different. Cohabiting relationships are fragile and often short-lived, always more likely to break up than marriages entered into at the same time, regardless of age or income levels.

Cohabitations with children are even more vulnerable than childless ones. Cohabitants tend to behave more like single than married people in terms of fidelity to their partners, substance abuse, and other health-related behaviours. The risk of violent and abusive behaviour is greater. Patricia Morgan argues that marriage is a declaration of commitment which has public as well as private consequences, and deserves support. It offers benefits not only to the couples themselves but to society as a whole.

Families Without Fatherhood,
Norman Dennis, George Erdos, Civitas, London,
ISBN 1-903 386-03-9. Available from HQ, £5.00, post free.

The publication in 1992 of this famous book by two left-wing socialists, first called the whole-marriage and the anti-masculine ideology question. They pointed to the gradual collapse of the internal coherence or working-class culture caused by the regulation of men to the margins of social and family life around the country. In doing so they were challenging the social work orthodoxy head on.

The fact that the Professor A H Halsey, a lifelong leader of socialist thought, has written a foreword to this new edition testifies to the importance of the issues raised. The decline of the family goes to the heart of Western civilisation, and presents challenges for us all, classical liberal and socialist alike.

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Special Offers

The following books are available at specially reduced prices, all including cost of post and packing:

  • The Fight for the Family: The Adults behind Children’s Rights, by Lynette Burrows, price £3.00
  • Broken Homes and Battered Children: A Study of the Relationship between Child Abuse and Family Type, ed. Robert Whelan, price £3.50
  • The Necessary Family and How to Support It, by Hugo de Burgh and Robert Whelan, price £2.00
  • Sex and Social Engineering: How the Sex Education Lobby is Undermining Society, by Valerie Riches, price £1.50
  • Tried But Untested: The Aims and Outcomes of Sex Education in Schools, ed. Paul Danon, price £3.50
  • Hidden Costs of Childcare, by Patricia Morgan, price £1.50

 

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ChildLine

Few would argue that children should be denied help they may need. However, we may question the nationwide campaigns to attract children to sources of advice outside the home which are currently being pursued by ChildLine and the NSPCC.

ChildLine has now launched the Helping Kids Grow campaign run in partnership with food giant Kellog’s with promotions in cereal jackets. The aim is to reach out to the majority of children in the UK with the message that ChildLine is there to help them. The vast majority of children are not in danger of being abused in their homes yet they are being given the idea that parents may not be first in the hierarchy of whom to turn to in need.

In a previous Bulletin we quoted from a letter from a mother whose primary school child proudly came home from school reciting ChildLine’s telephone number. She wrote: “ChildLine should take care in advertising its services that it is not in itself increasing the number in need of them by loosening the ties of authority between parent and child, perhaps resulting in more children being delivered into the culture of the street.”

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