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The Forum > Article Comments > Sex education, teenage pregnancy and the abortion debate > Comments

Sex education, teenage pregnancy and the abortion debate : Comments

By Lyn Allison, published 9/12/2004

Lyn Allison argues that there are other issues involved with the abortion debate and it needs a national approach.

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It is fantastic to see the level of commitment Senator Lyn Allison has to this current debate on sex education. I know she is aware and supportibve of a great new innovative sex edcuation course just launched called 'Sexual Health for Life'. This course is the first of its kind in Australia and causing much excitement amongst schools, teachers and educators like myself. It seems that finally somebody has produced a great resource - everyone knows it is needed, the statistics speak for themselves, so are the Government going to fund 'Sexual Health for Life' and make it available to every teenager NOW before more teengers leave school ignorant of STIs and contraception? Most school Principals seem to be getting review copies of this new course and more information can be found at www.sexedco.com

Congratulations to the author for finally providing a solution to the shocking abortion, teenage pregnancy and STI rates we have in this country.
Posted by Amy, Thursday, 9 December 2004 5:01:28 PM
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Chlamydia rates are rising, especially amongst teenagers. It is usually referred to as the "silent disease" because it often shows no symptoms. If left untreated, Chlamydia can lead to infertility in both men and women. The abortion figures in Australia are shocking but this country also faces a more serious problem of infertility in future generations because of lack of education to teenagers now.

I have recently bought a copy of this new course written by Ian McAllister and quite frankly, it should be put into every school straight away next year. The distance learning approach to sex education it uses, takes away the fear and embarrassment many parents and teachers have about discussing sex with teenagers.
Posted by Bal, Thursday, 9 December 2004 5:22:12 PM
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For the first time in Australian history, there are now more abortions taking place amongst teenagers than actual births. THATS JUST OUTRAGEOUS! It's great and very honourable of Senator Allison to take the lead and keep the pressure up on the debate but what are the current Government going to do about these terrible statistics?

Urgent funding needs to come from Tony Abbott - Minister for Health and Dr Brendan Nelson - Minister for Education. The solution to this huge problem requires good sex education to reduce the high rates of teenage pregnancies, abortions and rising rates sexually transmitted infections.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that it would be cheaper to fund every teenager in Australia to do some sort of sex education course like sexedco.com than to fund the 100,000 plus abortions currently being paid by tax payers every year. It would also be a smart investment for all our futures.

This debate isn't about whether women should have abortions or not or by when, its about preventing them in the first place with good education. If something new has come along, then it has to be worth trying even it only saves one life.
Posted by Petar Ugrinic, Thursday, 9 December 2004 8:19:38 PM
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AŁ300m to fight sexual health crisis Nov 25 2004 Liverpool Echo UK

The UK Government has pledged to invest AŁ300 million (Approx $720 Million)into tackling the nation's sexual health crisis.

UK Health Secretary John Reid said the money would be put in over three years to modernise and transform sexual health services in England.

The extra money will also include a AŁ50 million advertising campaign in a bid to stop rising rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

The last major campaign to raise awareness of Aids and HIV was seen in the 1980s, with hard-hitting TV ads featuring tombstones engraved with the words "Don't die of ignorance".

The Government programme was announced as figures from the Health Protection Agency showed that 53,000 people were now living with HIV in the UK, with growing rates in other STIs.

Last week's Public Health White Paper included measures to tackle sexual diseases in England.

This will include a chlamydia screening programme to cover the whole of the country by March 2007, with AŁ80 million to help achieve this.

There will also be pilot schemes to offer screening in areas not traditionally used, such as pharmacies.

Dr Reid said the plan was to make improving sexual health a priority.

"Sexually transmitted infections have been rising steadily over the past few years. Rates have virtually trebled among men and women over the last 10 years. Prevention messages are not getting through. We need to act now on sexual health - and make it a priority," Dr Reid said.

MR Abbott ????
Posted by UK Sex Ed Debate, Friday, 10 December 2004 9:16:45 AM
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Abstinence is probably very good advice. It makes sense to not put yourself in a situation which could result in unfortunate consequences. I would certainly not like to be a teenager who has to make a decision of whether to terminate or to carry to term. And it is a decision which can't be put off for very long.

Unfortunately, although as Senator Allison shows teenage pregnancies are declining in Australia, many teenagers are not taking up this good advice. So, other ways around the problem have to be explored. It is obvious that policymakers and education experts have to examine what is happening in countries similar to Australia where teenage pregnancies are much lower than ours. The Netherlands and Switzerland appear to be two good examples. The US seems not to be a very good example given the figures. However, I wonder if the figures of teenage pregancies there differ from state to state. Senator Allison didn't say. But if so, let's look at the successful states and see what they're doing right.

Posted by DavidJS, Friday, 10 December 2004 9:44:56 AM
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I have been working with young people for over 12 years and the whole topic of sex, contraception, abortion is obvioulsy a regular conversation. The statistics are staggering and sad and as with any form of statistical information it is what is done with it that matters. So what is Australia doing with this information? It is great to see a push for improved, up to date and relevant sex education. As much as I would prefer the whole abstinence apporach the reality is that young people will explore the whole area of their sexuality. It would be idealistic and unrealistic to think that young people will not experiment in this area and just abstain. The statistics from America sadly show us this. The abstinence only approach, as good as it is, is not being as successful as they would like. There needs to be a balanced approach to the subject and abstinence does need to be presented as a 100% fail safe method to prevent pregnancy and STI's, and also in the areas of drugs and alcohol. Yet if that is not going to be the choice we have a responsiblity to educate our young people on how to care for themselves and respect the partner.

There are few, in fact only one current and relevant resource that does this to my knowledge. The team at "Sexual Health for Life" have done a great job at developing a resource that nails this topic.

We have a responsibilty to the next generation to at least equip them to make educated decisions. Not just on the options available but also the untold side effects of the pain, emotional hurt and possible regret that can come from making bad decisions. This I know is not a popular line of thought to be this real with young people, but that's the way young people like it, to be real.

So what are we doing with the information we have?
Posted by philby, Friday, 10 December 2004 12:14:04 PM
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