News - Are condoms for kids the answer?



Every day seems to bring a new alert over soaring rates of sexually transmitted infections - and young people may be most at risk.

BBC News Online asks whether giving teenagers easy access to condoms is proving effective in the battle to safeguard the UK’s sexual health.

Family planning services argue young people will always experiment sexually and it is better to equip them with advice and the protection of condoms.

But some campaigners argue condoms encourage young people to take chances.

Teenagers’ access to condoms has probably never been greater - and yet government figures continue to show record figures of infections in the population as a whole.

Clinics struggling

Overall, 708,083 people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were diagnosed with an STI in 2003.

Sexual health clinics warn they are struggling to cope - and young people may be those at most risk.

A British Medical Association report found six out of ten 16- to 24-year-olds admit to not using condoms and rates of certain sexually transmitted diseases are soaring in this age group.

Family planning organisations believe a policy combining sex education with condom use is the best way forward.

HOW THE C-CARD WORKS
Young person registers at a designated point - usually somewhere like a youth centre

Anonymity is preserved but each teenager is seen by a trained adviser

Advice is given on sexual relationships and safer sex

The adviser shows the correct way to put on a condom

The C-card is issued, giving access to free condoms, if the young person wants it

Child protection issues may be picked up during the discussion

One such initiative is the C-card condom scheme - whereby young people are given sexual health advice and a ‘credit card’ entitling them to free condoms.

The C-card programme operates from places like youth centres, which are convenient for young people and less daunting than a family planning or sexual health clinic.

Middlesbrough, County Durham, Lincolnshire and parts of Scotland and Wales are among 50-odd areas to operate the scheme, with Calderdale in West Yorkshire about to join too.

There is no lower age limit on who can use the service - but Calderdale Primary Care Trust said they expected the majority to be about 16.

Melissa Dear, a spokeswoman for the Family Planning Association (FPA), said they backed the C-card as a way for young people to get condoms with advice.

Vending machine

She said: “They can go to a vending machine to get them whenever they want - so to provide them in a location convenient to them, where they can access advice from a health professional, can only be beneficial.”

But Norman Wells, director of research group Family and Youth Concern, believes government efforts to cut teenage pregnancy have made matters worse.

He said: “Sex education and the availability of contraception to young people have failed to reduce the teenage conception rate.

Packets of condoms

Some young people are reluctant to go to GPs for condoms

“But what we have seen is a massive increase in the incidence of sexually transmitted infections.”

He said the emphasis on condoms lulled young people “into a false sense of security” - without necessarily warning them of the risks of inexpert use.

“Condoms are not the infallible answer to pregnancy and STIs,” he said.

His organisation would like sex education to place more value on restraint, abstinence and marriage.

The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, which is opposed to the use of contraception, also recommends abstinence outside marriage.



Promoting sexual self-respect may be more effective than assuming people ‘must’ have sex and can only make it ’safer’


Hugh Henry, Linacre Centre

It states: “Sexually transmitted diseases give a further reason why casual sex is irresponsible and contrary to human dignity.”

Hugh Henry, education officer for the Church’s Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics, said the government must start backing “abstinence-only sex education programmes”.

He said: “The current approach to preventing teenage pregnancy and STDs is not working.

“In parts of the country where aggressive, cheerleader group sex
sex education has been tried, we’ve seen high rates of teenage pregnancy and STDs.

‘Head in the sand’

“There is evidence that promoting sexual self-respect may be more effective than assuming people ‘must’ have sex and can only make it ’safer’.”

But Marie Stopes Adult dating sex site
said a condom and sex advice giveaway run through teenage magazine Sugar had shown how much young people needed a adult lesbian dating
sex education.

“We had 20,000 donated condoms and they went very, very quickly,” said spokesman Tony Kerridge.

“We had teenagers emailing us to say how great it was that we were trying to promote this because it was the kind of information they desperately needed and couldn’t find elsewhere.”

The campaign provoked only a handful of complaints from parents, he said, and helped inform thousands of young people on proper condom use.

“We can moralise about the rights and wrongs of young people having sex but the reality is that they are - and you either stick your head in the sand or you try to do something about it.”

News - The battle over Uganda’s Aids campaign


Read on and you learn that the poster has been put up by the office of first lady Janet Museveni. The first lady’s office is one of the major recipients of US funding to combat HIV/Aids.

On the other side of the billboard is a picture of a truck driver passing “Safari Hotel” as two women try to flag him down. “Thank GOD I said NO to Aids - driving home to my wife,” it states, before asking: “Abstinence - why not?”

This is a “condomless” billboard. There is no mention of the word “condom” or “safe sex”.

This push for abstinence and faithfulness in the fight against HIV/Aids has been welcomed by some sections of society, especially religious groups.

‘Life-threatening’

Pastor Martin Ssempa says donor funding has for years been heavily biased towards condom promotion, and he claims this has lead to an escalation in casual sex and infidelity.


I’ve tried abstinence but it is quite hard - I always walk with condoms in my pocket
Dan, 20

The outspoken pastor says it is time for that to change.

“Until recently, all HIV-related billboards were about condoms. Those of us calling for abstinence and faithfulness need billboards too,” he says.

However, others consider it dangerous to push the “A” for “Abstinence” and the “B” for “Be Faithful” if the “C” for “Condom” message is lost or diluted.

After all, it was the ABC approach and a policy of openness inspired by President Yoweri Museveni which helped Uganda perform well in the fight against HIV/Aids compared to other countries.

Many African governments have fared miserably in attempting to counter the HIV pandemic, with devastating consequences.

By comparison, Uganda has performed well in bringing down the HIV prevalence to around 6%. In many parts of the country, it was at least three times as high during the early 1990s.

The New York-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has strongly criticized the Ugandan government, accusing it of pushing the abstinence line while group sex video clips
the safe sex message.


We are in love but we are not going to have sex before marriage
Alex, 19

A “life-threatening” shift which HRW says is adult dating free online personals services
and funded by the US.

It says the funding for abstinence is due to President George W Bush’s conservative Christian views, which are similar to those of Uganda’s first lady.

The US says it plans to spend more than $100m combating HIV/Aids in Uganda this year - of which more than $8m will be on the abstinence and faithfulness programme. Some of that money will be focused on the young.

‘Wacky ideas’

On a wall in Kitante Hill secondary school in Kampala is a poster advertising an abstinence march.

“Please wear your ‘True Love Waits’ T-Shirt if you have one,” the organisers advise.

Ugandan vendor selling condoms

There have been concerns about the quality of condoms in Uganda

“Abstinence is the best method. It is 100% safe against early pregnancies, STDs Sexually Transmitted Diseases and the common one, HIV, which is very deadly as it has no cure at the moment,” says Linda, 19.

Alex, 19, tells me he has a girlfriend. “We are in love but we are not going to have sex before marriage.”

Sandra, 16, says of her boyfriend: “His friends sometimes give him wacky ideas, but we sit down and talk it out as we both decided not to have sex before marriage.”

Sandra says she was inspired by Linda and Alex. “If these guys can abstain, then I can also do the same no matter what pressure I get.”

I ask if there are many people at the school who do not take on this abstinence message.

“Oh yes,” replies Alex. He leaves the room for two minutes and returns with Dan and Usher, aged 20 and 19.

“I’ve tried abstinence but it is quite hard,” says Dan. “I always walk with condoms in my pocket. But I don’t think there is enough education in schools about safe sex.”

Usher believes abstinence is a good idea but says it is not realistic: “I think most people get tempted too much and I think condoms are a good alternative.”

‘No change’

Despite the funding for abstinence based programmes, the Ugandan government is keen to deny that there has been any shift of emphasis.

“I would like to assure the world that we have continued to maintain abstinence, being faithful and the use of condoms as the principal strategy in the fight against HIV/Aids,” says Uganda’s Minister for Health, Mike Mukula.


Many of the young people we are working with are surviving on sex
Rogers Kasirye
Youth worker

But while US cash has seen the canoodling crested cranes flying onto Uganda’s billboards, it seems the birds are somewhat territorial and may have chased other messengers away.

Until a few months ago, a free magazine promoting safe sex was distributed to secondary schools by a non-profit organisation.

But this recently became controversial and faith-based casual sex dating blog
were concerned the magazine was encouraging sex.

As a result, the magazine has been ditched, and that avenue for getting the safe sex message to the students has now gone.

The head of guidance and counselling at Kitante Hill school, Samuel Along, is concerned that the safe sex message is not getting through.

“I have seen students at the school pairing up. They come and talk to me and I begin realising they have sexually transmitted diseases. And if we have been insisting on abstinence, don’t you think there is a very good possibility they have not used a condom?”

Free will

This is a respectable secondary school in the Ugandan capital where there is good access to information.

But the majority of young Ugandans do not make it beyond primary school and in a country where most people live on less than $1 a day, the link between poverty and sex is strong.

Aids information poster in Uganda

Christian groups in Uganda and the US are behind the new emphasis

Rogers Kasirye works in the slums of Kampala with street children and teenage prostitutes. Poverty has forced many of them into taking risks.

“It is an economic problem. Many of the young people we are working with are surviving on sex, and the only option or barrier they have is the condom.”

The Ugandan health ministry has been giving out about 80 million condoms a year, free of charge.

But after recent concern about the quality of the condoms, the ministry is now giving out far less and is sending condoms abroad for testing as it tries to acquire machines for checking condom quality locally.

Whilst churches are pushing the abstinence message, not all religious leaders are happy with President Bush.

Reverend Gideon Byamugisha is HIV-positive and he hopes the US will carefully assess the way in which it influences policy in Uganda.

“We are still hopeful that America, being a strong and well-meaning country, will not go down in history as a country which exported ideas at the expense of people’s free will to choose.”

News - Japan’s Aids time bomb

Her friend, Madoka Izumi, also a high school student, agreed.

“I go to a girl’s school, and we’ve never been able to learn what boys think about sex. They’ve taught us some of the physical sides of sex, but none of the emotional aspects, so we’re not really prepared to deal with it,” she said.

Yusuke Izumi, a university student, said: “I don’t remember getting any sex education at school - we just talked about it among ourselves, about the things we did with girls.”

Adults are probably oblivious about teenagers’ sexual activity, Mariko said.

“Parents always think their children are different. They can’t imagine them having sex or having abortions. They can only think of them studying hard at school.”

By the age of 17, more than a third of teenagers in Japan have already had sex at least once.

There are other statistics which Dr Akaeda finds even more alarming. Sexually-transmitted diseases are rising rapidly among young women - a sure sign of having sex with multiple partners but without using condoms.

“Teenagers these days are very casual about sex. They’re happy to have sex with anyone they meet - they use phrases like ‘let’s play together?’

“I gave away vouchers for free STD tests to girls, and found that 82% them were infected.

“It’s incredible. I suspect a lot of them may have HIV as well.”

In Japan, sex has become a freely-traded commodity, seemingly unconstrained by moral concerns.

Dozens of pornographic cable TV channels on sale here, and yet sales of condoms have been falling for several years.

Condom dearth

“We’re very concerned about the negative image of condoms among young people, because it’s not just HIV, but other sexually-transmitted diseases which are spreading,” said Toshiaki Ishii, of the Okamoto Condom Co Ltd.

“We’re trying to find ways to make them more appealing, but so far without success. I think the lack of sex education is partly to blame for this,” he said.

The absolute number of people infected with HIV in Japan is still quite small - but unlike other developed countries, every year that number keeps rising.

Young people in Tokyo

There could be a price to pay for young people’s blissful ignorance

And yet there is still a marked reluctance here to discuss the problem openly, or to run the kind of oklahoma casual sex dating
awareness campaigns that would wake this country up to the danger it faces.

That reluctance prevails even in the corridors of Tokyo’s city government. Ida Mami, of the Medical Service’s Division, is sounding the alarm over Aids awareness, but said getting more explicit sex education in schools is not easy.

“It is a sensitive issue. We have to start with what’s possible, and avoid provoking a reaction from conservatives. If we push too hard on discussing condoms and safe sex in classrooms, some people may demand we stop all HIV education,” she explained.

A start of sorts has been made in one of Tokyo’s most elite girls’ schools. They invited Dr Akaeda to educate, not the pupils, but their mothers - though only a handful turned up.

His use of graphic black adult dating site
and even more graphic statistics had its intended effect - to shake any illusions they may have that their daughters are somehow immune to the wave of adolescent promiscuity sweeping Japan.

Social taboo

Actually talking about sex to their children, though, is another matter.

“Well it’s rather difficult to bring this subject up in a casual way. If I can find the right opportunity, I hope I will feel able to discuss it,” said one mother.

“I think this is a subject our children are already interested in, so I guess they’ll understand if we raise it with them,” another said.

Young people often seem like Japan’s golden generation, unburdened by the work ethic of their parents, enjoying more leisure, more affluence, more security.

In such a cosseted canada adult dating
it is hard to imagine the spectre of Aids. But it is here, and they don’t seem to realise.

News - US teens celebrate ‘purity day’


Thousands of teenagers across the US are celebrating a “Day of Purity” to promote sexual abstinence.

High school students are wearing white t-shirts and encourage classmates to remain virgins until they are married.

The conservative US Christian group Liberty Counsel, which organised the day, said US teenagers should make a “public demonstration” of purity.

It said the day offered teenagers a chance to stand in opposition to “a culture of moral decline”.

‘Encouraging purity’

Liberty Counsel, which says it works to promote “religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family”, said young Americans faced a daily barrage of sexual messages in group sex directory
culture.



The way sex is talked about, it’s so casual, like it’s an everyday thing, like going to McDonald’s


Teenage Day of Purity supporter

It said the Day of Purity enabled teenagers to make their voices heard and become part of America’s true “counter-culture”.

“When the youth of America stand up for sexual purity they send a message to parents, churches, calgary casual sex dating
, legislators and the media that they want a different America,” it said in a statement on its website.

It added it had chosen the day before St Valentine’s Day to encourage “purity in dating relationships” until marriage.

Teens ‘exposed’

US teenager Melissa Millis, who says she will wear a white t-shirt to promote the Day of Purity at her Michigan state school, told the Associated Press news agency she was tired of feeling casual sex dating dating site.

”The way sex is talked about, it’s so casual, like it’s an everyday thing, like going to McDonald’s,” she said.

US President George W Bush has massively increased funding and support for the US sexual abstinence movement during his term in office.

Christian abstinence organisation True Love Waits says it has more than one million card-carrying young members.

However, critics say the programmes are unrealistic and leave teenagers exposed to pregnancy and sexual diseases.

News - Wednesday, 26 July, 2006

We lead tonight with the latest news from the Middle East.

Israel has suffered its heaviest losses for years. In the latest fighting, 13 Israeli soldiers are reported to have been killed in fierce fighting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

100 adult dating free site
Israeli forces have killed 13 Palestinians in Gaza and four UN adult lesbian dating
- there are reports that the UN warned the Israeli forces several times not to fire on them.

We assess the human cost of this conflict.

And, as the Rome adult dating chat match
fails to agree on an immediate ceasefire in southern Lebanon, what are the prospects of a lasting peace? I’ll be adult sex online dating
the options.

Hollywood online

Could internet pirates be about to walk the plank?

The music industry famously responded to mass music piracy by slashing prices and selling songs for 99 cents online.

Tonight we’ll be hearing that the film studios may be about to try the same trick. It’s thought that web giants Amazon and iTunes are limbering up to put Hollywood online and end the virtual monopoly of the hackers and pirates.

Cruise control

And after George Michael was caught cruising with a builder he nicknamed Bernard Manning, we’ll be asking is he right to suggest that casual sex is a natural part of gay culture?

Causing a buzz

And I am being indulged by the editor - we hope to end with pictures of the flight of the adult sex dating service

News - Teen pregnancies rise in resorts


Teenage pregnancy rates are higher in seaside resorts, according to a study by the University of Liverpool.

Researchers said young people were easily exploited by the drinking culture and “sun, sea and casual sex” atmosphere of holiday destinations.

Secondary school children, young parents and temporary workers were interviewed during the two-year study.

Lecturer Stephanie Petrie said the entertainment industry had “little concern” for the needs of young people.

Confidentiality concerns

“We found that it met the needs of adults with little concern for the impact on young people,” she said.

“The entertainment industry capitalises on the attraction of sun, sea, sand and casual sex and so young people drawn to seaside resorts and surrounding rural areas can be easily exploited.

“In rural areas young people explained that because they are often a minority in small communities they were highly visible and fears of lack of confidentiality meant they were often reluctant to seek advice.

The study involved social adult free online dating site from Liverpool, Hull and Brighton, and was funded by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit of the Adult australia dating chat personals
for Education and Skills (DFES).

It suggested local authorities consider the impact of any future leisure developments on young people, and “take seeking casual sex dating steps to consult them.”

News - BBC show sets teen sex challenge

A BBC show has black adult dating
12 teenagers to stay celibate for five months.


In No Sex Please, We’re Teenagers, two Christian youth workers tried to get participants to swap “casual sex for old-fashioned courting rituals”.


They said the young people would be happier if they were in long-term, serious adult dating service
.


“This is not a reality show in the Big Brother sense,” a BBC spokeswoman said. “It is a adult single dating
observational documentary series.”


The teenagers, aged between 15 and 17 and from Harrow, north-west London, attended weekly “Romance Academy” sessions with the youth workers.


‘Life-changing’


They also spent a weekend sharing a house with two rules - girls and boys were not allowed in each other’s bedrooms and no alcohol.


The youngest participant was Wesley, 15, who lost his virginity at the age of 12. The parents of the 12 teenagers agreed to the project.


The BBC spokeswoman said the youngsters were not chosen for their promiscuity.


“Some of them haven’t had sex at all - it’s a complete cross-section,” she said. “They’re all from Harrow but they all go to different schools and they’re all from different cultures and different religions.”


The youths described the Romance Academy as “life-changing”, she said.


No Sex Please, We’re Teenagers is on BBC Two from 6 September.

News - Tourists ‘fuel Kenya’s sex boom’

Up to 30% of girls in some Kenyan resorts are involved in the sex industry, according to a UN report.


The UN adult dating free married
fund Unicef, which looked at resorts along Kenya’s coast, found that 15,000 girls aged 12 to 18 were engaged in casual sex for money.


Another 2,000-3,000 girls and boys were involved in full-time prostitution, said the study - carried out jointly with the Kenyan government.


European men represented half of all their clients, the report said.


The 15,000 girls are said to live in the resort areas districts of Mombasa, Kilifi, Malindi and Kwale.


Poverty is the reason, Unicef says: many families see the sex industry as the only way of putting food on the table.


Local clients


“Clearly, what is going on here is unacceptable. Unicef feels that it’s time for zero tolerance… adult club dating chat ontario
of sexual violence against children,” a spokesman said.


“Kenya should be seen as a no-go zone for sexual teen sex yahoo group
of children,” he added.


Italian, German and Swiss nationals are the most common clients of child sex workers among tourists - at 18%, 14% and 12% interracial adult dating chat site
.


Kenyan men are the largest single group of clients, comprising 38% of the total.


A “group sex party pic
” 75% of people involved in tourism thought it was acceptable for girls to exchange sex for cash, and 60% said the same for boys, the study showed.


Many were also implicated directly in the exploitation of children, it added.


“Child sex workers are often compelled to deliver sexual services to Kenyans - beach boys, bar staff, waiters, and others - in order to access tourists. During the low tourist season, the local market for child sex workers keeps the system going,” the report said.

News - Seaside towns ‘increase teen sex’


Teenagers in English seaside resorts are more likely to get pregnant than those elsewhere due to a “hedonistic” party culture, a report says.

The free personal adult dating
Teenage Pregnancy Unit found the availability of alcohol and drugs adult dating service uk
“sexual risk-taking” among girls as young as 14.

They were also often exploited by tourists and seasonal workers.

Official figures show Blackpool has 74.8 conceptions per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 17. The national average is 42.6.

‘Sun, sea and (casual) sex’

The figure for Hastings is 61.3 and for Southend it is 50.4.

The government report - Living on the Edge - found a feeling of “carnivalesque excitement” among young people in seaside towns.

This led to “detachment, the suspension of reality”.

Sexual health services within the towns were often “difficult to access”.

The report accuses the entertainment industry of luring visitors to the seaside with “sun, sea, sand and (casual) sex”, which serves to encourage “early sexual activity and casual sex dating encounter
sex”.

Some 68 groups of 12 to 17 year olds and 80 key professionals, young parents and transient workers were interviewed by academics from Brighton University, Hull University and Liverpool University.

The research was carried out at resorts in the East Midlands, North West and South East of England.

The number of under-18s who became pregnant in England and Wales rose from 40,966 in 2001 to 41,868 in 2002, the most recent year for which figures are available.

The government said this was a “blip” in a trend which had seen the rate fall during the preceding three years.

Last year, ministers announced a 40m teenage pregnancy strategy to run until 2006.

News - US teens celebrate ‘purity day’



Thousands of teenagers across the US are celebrating a “Day of Purity” to promote sexual abstinence.

High school students are wearing white t-shirts and encourage classmates to remain virgins until they are married.

The erotic group sex
US Christian group Liberty Counsel, which organised the day, said US teenagers should make a “public demonstration” of purity.

It said the day offered teenagers a chance to stand in opposition to “a culture of moral decline”.

‘Encouraging purity’

Liberty Counsel, which says it works to promote “religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family”, said young Americans faced a daily barrage of sexual messages in casual sex dating between friends culture.



The way sex is talked about, it’s so casual, like it’s an everyday thing, like going to McDonald’s


Teenage Day of Purity supporter

It said the Day of Purity enabled teenagers to make their voices heard and become part of America’s true “adult dating free dating
“.

“When the youth of America stand up for sexual purity they send a message to parents, churches, communities, casual sex dating video
and the media that they want a different America,” it said in a statement on its website.

It added it had chosen the day before St Valentine’s Day to encourage “purity in dating relationships” until marriage.

Teens ‘exposed’

US teenager Melissa Millis, who says she will wear a white t-shirt to promote the Day of Purity at her Michigan state school, told the Associated Press news agency she was tired of feeling pressurised.

”The way sex is talked about, it’s so casual, like it’s an everyday thing, like going to McDonald’s,” she said.

US President George W Bush has massively increased funding and support for the US sexual abstinence movement during his term in office.

Christian abstinence organisation True Love Waits says it has more than one million black adult dating site young members.

However, critics say the programmes are unrealistic and leave teenagers exposed to pregnancy and sexual diseases.