Former teen mums warn girls against pregnancy

A SEX education programme being delivered by former teenage mothers in schools around the country is raising young people’s awareness of the dangers of becoming sexually active too young.

Nearly 600 teenage girls in schools and training centres around the country have participated in the Real Deal programme since it was launched two years ago.

A profile of the students published yesterday revealed that one in four who admitted to having sex said they had not used contraception when they last had sex.

Just over half said they never had sex and, of those who did, 44% waited until they were 16 or older.

More than eight out of 10 said they drank alcohol, with just over 40% admitting they drank between four and six drinks on any one occasion. One in four said they had taken an illegal drug.

A total of 2,223 teenagers gave birth last year and 50 were under 16.

The programme, funded by the HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme, formerly the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, aims to complement existing Relationships and Sexuality (RSE) education in schools.

It will be available to around 600 students in 30 schools this autumn and in the coming year.

An evaluation of the programme has found that it succeeded in changing most students’ attitudes towards sex and pregnancy.

Students particularly enjoyed the teenage mothers telling their stories. “I realised how being a teenage mum really turns your life upside down, extremely,” one wrote in the published profiles.

Another student commented. “It gave me a reality check about what can happen.

“This gave me the incentive to protect myself.”

Students were particularly shocked about the risk of sexually transmitted diseases because they knew little about them.

One student wrote about being forced to have sex at 15 by her ex-partner and that since talking to the teenage mothers she now realised it was not the end of the world and that she had the ability to say no now.

The students also believed that boys would benefit from a similar programme but this should not be at the expense of delivering the programme to all young girls in a certain age group.

Real Deal programme manager Anne Fitzpatrick said more than ever in a society consumed with image, appearance and materialism, teenagers needed to be protected and able to enjoy a fun-filled life.

“Teenagers do not need nappies, lone parenting, crushed dreams of travel and further education,” she said.

Home school liaison officer at St Tiernan’s Community School, Balally, Dublin, Mary Fagan said the school was lucky to have former teenage mothers, Holly Railton from Dublin and Laura McLaughlin from Kildare, deliver the programme.

She said the two young women established a respectful, trust-filled relationship with the students, something that was very hard to achieve.

Ms Fagan said the programme empowered students to take ownership of their lives — something that was difficult for girls who did everything in groups.

“I think the programme will make a huge difference in the prevention of teenage pregnancy,” she said.