Do School Children Have the “Right” to a Good Sex Life?
According to the NHS, YES! Please Share Your Opinion With Us …
by www.SixWise.com

The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has taken sex education to a whole new level. In an effort to update their sex education program, NHS Sheffield sent out a bold new leaflet -- titled “Pleasure” -- to parents, teachers and youth workers.

As the name implies, rather than promoting the same old message of safe sex, committed relationships and abstinence, the leaflet focuses on the benefits of enjoyable sex.

“An Orgasm a Day Keeps the Doctor Away”

Yes, the leaflet actually carries this slogan. And while you may agree with it for yourself … how about for your school-aged child?

The handout also includes this:

"Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes' physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?"

The advice also goes on to inform students that they have a “right” to an enjoyable sex life and points out that regular intercourse may benefit their cardiovascular health.

Well, we have to admit that, from a health standpoint, this is true. Assuming it is done with a partner you can trust, and no sexually transmitted diseases are involved, the benefits of sexual relations include:

• Relief from depression and stress

• Reduce risk of heart disease

• Pain relief

• A strong immune system

• A reduced risk of prostate cancer

Still, offering this advice to students in an effort to promote sexual education seems like it could be playing with fire.

Steve Slack, director of the Centre for HIV and Sexual Health at NHS Sheffield and an author of the leaflet, said the advice was intended to encourage young people to delay having sex until they are sure they will enjoy it. He also said that teenagers who are fully informed about sex, in a caring relationship and making decisions free of peer pressure are just as entitled to a good sex life as adults.

Many are Not on Board With Pleasure’s Message

Anthony Seldon, master of Wellington College, Berkshire, called the NHS leaflet “deplorable.”

Dr. Trevor Stammers, of the pressure group Family and Youth Concern, meanwhile, believed the advice would encourage risky behavior and increase sexually transmitted diseases.

“It is unbelievable that this is being sent to schools,” he said in the UK’s Daily Mail Online, also calling the leaflet “nothing less than encouraging child abuse.”

“If the NHS wants to promote a healthy heart, as it says it does in this leaflet, it should put the money into reducing smoking and alcohol,” he said. “Underage sex is as dangerous as underage drink and usually leads to sexual ill-health.”

Ironically, a major UK government initiative to reduce teenage pregnancies also recently came under scrutiny, according to the Daily Mail. Girls who took part in the initiative, which aimed to reduce pregnancies by handing out condoms and teaching the girls about sex, were twice as likely to become pregnant as other girls.

What do YOU Think?

Would you be upset if your child was informed of his or her “right to a good sex life” in school? Or do you feel it’s a fair message to share?

Recommended Reading

How to Find Registered Sex Offenders and Child Predators in Your Area

The Intimate Lives of the Post-Reproductives: New Research Provides an Interesting Inside Peek

Sources

Mail Online July 12, 2009

Times Online July 12, 2009

Telegraph July 12, 2009