Young People Should Have Better Sex Safely, UK

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 07 Aug 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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"Young people should have the opportunity to choose good quality sex and use condoms as a matter of course" says Brook chief executive Simon Blake to mark Sexual Health Week starting yesterday.

Referring to the fpa 'Pillow Talk' campaign, Brook says effective pillow talking amongst people in their 30s will be influenced by their early experiences.

"We know that many young people have poor early sexual encounters and this influences what they expect later in life," says Blake. "Although many do use contraception and condoms, because sex is often unplanned, they have not discussed contraception with the person they are having sex with."

"As a result of these early experiences, they can feel let down, they lose confidence in negotiating sex, and they devalue protection against pregnancy and STIs."

Instead, young people should learn that sex should be safe, enjoyable, satisfying and something they choose, when they feel ready to. "We must create a culture where using condoms is what you do when you have sex, not something that has to be extensively negotiated."

In Scandinavia and the Netherlands young people are taught that when you have sex, you use a condom. Young people's developing sexuality is respected and young people themselves learn to respect it too. The same culture must become the norm in the UK says Brook.

"We must talk more with young people from an early age about feelings, about trust, about communication and about sex," says Blake. "We focus factually on things to do with sex - contraception, pregnancy, birth, abortion - but young people tell us we don't talk anywhere near enough about sex itself, what it is and what it feels like. We leave them to work that out for themselves - and they often turn to the internet, to pornography or simply try it out."

"Parents, schools, communities and health professionals can work together to generate the kind of culture where young people learn that sex has got to be safe and satisfying. That would go a long way to help reduce teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections in the UK and enabling our young people to grow up valuing themselves and more confident to have sex only when they feel all the circumstances are right for them."

1. Brook is the UK's leading provider of sexual health services and advice for young people under 25. The charity has more than 40 years' experience of working with young people and currently has a network of more than 50 services in 18 areas of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Jersey. Brook services provide free and confidential sexual health information, contraception, pregnancy testing, advice and counselling, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and outreach and education work, reaching more than 200,000 young people every year.

2. Brook runs Ask Brook, a confidential helpline, online enquiry service and text information service, which is contacted by more than 20,000 young people a year. Young people can contact Brook free and in confidence on 0800 0185 023 or by online enquiry via Ask Brook at http://www.brook.org.uk.

http://www.brook.org.uk