Will we never learn?

Party, party, party!

"One in five men in their early 20s in England has the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia, figures suggest".

This is the lead paragraph in a news item this morning concerning the steeply rising incidence of STD's among the British youth and it makes worrying reading.

Perhaps I am missing something about the dynamics of today's youth culture but I don't think so. I find it horrifying that in an era where so much information is apparently available, people are still falling victim in such numbers to diseases and infections such as this.

There have always been 'dangers' attached to sexual activity but it seems that each new generation finds it's own way of ignoring those dangers and putting themselves at risk. In the days when pregnancy was the greatest fear and information was scarce it was forgivable that individuals made mistakes and misjudgments, but today that should not be the case and the risks involved are so much greater. To fall pregnant out of wedlock may well have been shameful in the past but it wasn't, in most cases, life threatening and if chlamydia doesn't scare the life out of young people then HIV should, but it doesn't appear to!

We read time and time again of the suggested reasons why a whole generation is behaving in this way but I see an anomaly here. On one hand there is the reasoning that youth culture has changed, teenagers, men and women alike are under more pressures in their day to day lives to achieve and hence 'party' harder, binge drinking leaves those who partake unable to make good decisions and a more liberal (if any) moral attitude prevails.

Forgive me for looking at these reasons finding them wanting somewhat. I was a teenager in the 70's, if anything, as one of the first generations to grow up 'post sexual revolution' and with the pill readily available should we not have been the ones to be at greatest risk? Our formal sex education was almost non existent and where it did exist it concentrated on frogs not people, we drank to excess and made some poor decisions and we suffered pressures. We were after all the first generation to grow up feeling we had to 'have it all', there was youth culture, drugs and sex and yet whilst we didn't have the fear of HIV we still had fears. Pregnancy out of wedlock was still considered unacceptable, though less so than in previous generations and sure, some did fall pregnant, some did contract unwanted infections but today with all the help that should be available the numbers are far higher!

I for one do not advocate moralistic preachings, I do not want to curtail the activities and fun of teenagers, how many of us look back on our 'wild days' with affection and still with a frisson of excitement? Liberation, sexual and otherwise should be a plus and a life enhancement but with it comes responsibility and thereby hangs the problem perhaps.

Do we really teach our burgeoning generations responsibility suitably?

Teenage media shouts, nay screams, sexuality at children barely out of kindergarten, advertising promotes sexuality at a ridiculously young age, clothing stores for the age group have on offer items well suited to the inhabitants of a bordello and what counters it? Very little it would seem. Many many parents struggle against all this and the peer pressure it creates but many don't and formal sex education still seems sadly lacking. I fail to see the use of educating an already sexually active teenager of 15 on the biological facts alone.

Some parents, some authorities, may not like it, may not accept it but the fact is that teenagers will have sex despite protestations. They may not be emotionally mature enough to handle the fall out and they seem to not have the skills in place to avoid the dangers but that won't stop them, it's gonna happen like it or not.

Is it not therefore time that we took responsibility for our youth, gave them the skills and stopped the stupidity. Education has to be the key and it seems to have improved little in realistic terms. Yes adolescents will always have an uncanny ability to feel 'it won't happen to me' and to believe they are immortal and some just won't ever give a damn but if we as adults don't take proper responsibility how can we expect this generation or those that follow to take responsibility for their actions and decisions?

It seems that the biggest difference between my teenage years and those of today is the responsibility we felt. We were not all perfect by any means but we did grow up in the main perhaps feeling a little more responsible for our actions than today's young people, or perhaps we were still just more scared of the consequences. Decent education on life skills would have helped enormously and in 30 years not much seems to have changed. We still pussy foot around the subject and fight those who think they have the moral high ground!

Is it not possible to teach sex education realistically or will we never learn? As an adult I would like to be able to instill in children that sex is not just about gratification and 'a quick shag' with whom ever you happen to leave a club with at 2am, pissed, but the fact remains that is how it is in many instances and it has been for years, it just wasn't so readily publicised in previous generations. Somehow the moral do-gooders need to be by passed and honest, upfront information needs to be given at the right time. What is the use of teaching a 15 year old the intricacies of a frogs reproductive system when what he or she really needs to know is how to extricate a condom from it's impossible package and successfully persuade it to adorn the appropriate area, whilst still in one operational piece!!

The world is not perfect, people will not always have 'Mills and Boon', respectful, loving relationships however much some might want them to...... wild, silly one off encounters will always happen and
I wouldn't want that to be taken from life's experience or from the fun of growing up, but let's at least give each new generation the tools to do it with some degree of responsibility. Afterall, there is no fun whatsoever or moral gain, in finding at 25 you are suffering PID or are infertile...... and even less fun in the news that you are HIV positive!