The NHS is spot on using yoof-speak to target kids

AN NHS ‘safe sex’ poster campaign aimed at teenagers and young adults has been slammed after it warned young men to ‘beware da baby trap’.

Other posters by Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust suggested girls would have to give up heels and lipstick if they had a baby, while their partners would have to sacrifice their PlayStation consoles.

Cue the predictable Twitter storm. How patronising! How sexist! How out of touch!

Well, I’m sick of this faux outrage whenever a person or an organisation steps out of line with the ‘herd thinking’ that dominates social media. And, of course, celebrities and wannabe celebrities jump on the bandwagon — in this case Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp.

These people display such ignorance of the real world as they rush to condemn a health campaign that was well thought out, had been properly researched — and might actually make a difference.

Walsall Healthcare was appropriately targeting teens at risk. It wasn’t aiming to engage the well-educated Twitterati, who feel compelled to bleat whenever they see something they disagree with.

I’ve worked with very young mums and some dads in disadvantaged communities, and I know that many have found themselves in their situation simply because they never thought through the consequences of having unprotected sex. Given their chance again, they admit they would have done things differently if they had known what caring for a baby involves.

There are plenty of youngsters out there who need reminding that if they don’t use contraception every time they have sex, then a pregnancy may mean they’ll have to give up things they now take for granted. The level of ignorance around sex and sexual health is astounding.

So well done to Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust for tackling the issue head-on.