By the way . . . timely advice for teen manoeuvres
TODAY I’m giving a talk to Transition Year students on the topic of health. When I was at school we had three health talks. One was on malaria, something that isn’t much practical use if your school is in Cork.
The second was on smoking, the overriding theme being ‘smoking slows you down’. And the third was from a pair of recovering alcoholics telling us not to drink. We were all 17, so for the majority of us, that ship had sailed.
In preparation for this talk I looked back on my teenage self and wondered what I would have liked to have been told about. Ironically, our sexual health education was delivered by a celibate nun.
There was no mention of how to prevent pregnancy but it was, however, made very clear that it would result in expulsion from school and potential excommunication from the family.
Despite this, many of my class got pregnant — possibly because the advice the nuns gave us was to put a telephone directory between us and the object of our affections. Ridiculous stuff altogether!
In contrast, Ireland’s youth are living in a sexually liberated society. We legalised same-sex marriage and the largest porn site in the world — Porn Hub — has its HQ in Dublin. You no longer have to go cloak and dagger to the GP for the morning-after pill and sexual health screening often involves little more than anonymously peeing in a cup. We have access to all areas but there still isn’t the education to back it up.
For most teens navigating their way through their first sexual experiences is scary. Ask them the age of consent and the majority will get it wrong. It’s important for teens to be empowered but the majority are going on the journey with no map.
My message to them with regards to their sexual journey is this. Do your research, pack a condom, and be prepared for any kind of weather.
Only go where you want to go, and remember you can always reverse. Watch out for dangerous drivers along the way. And remember there’s no rush — you will get there in the end.