Young people want quality sex education

WELL done for highlighting the need for sex education in Ireland (Irish Examiner, June 23).

In a recent Crisis Pregnancy Agency study, men of all ages spoke of the lack of clear and open sex education to prepare them for adulthood. Previous studies have shown that 92% of adults in Ireland support sex education in schools.

The Sexual Health Centre provided sex education to 4,749 young people aged 12-to-18 in 31 schools last academic year. We work in partnership with teachers and parents.

Everywhere we were asked for more sessions and to start with younger age groups. Students say our workshops are excellent and they feel comfortable talking about all sexual health topics with external facilitators. Teachers also say our work is excellent, age appropriate and professional. No matter how sophisticated young people seem, they are desperate to discuss their anxieties and knowledge gaps. The age of first sexual intercourse is falling, yet 75% of men and 56% of women aged 18 to 24 do not know when a woman is most fertile. There were 3,353 cases of chlamydia notified in 2005 — 69% of these among young adults.

Chlamydia is treatable but many people don’t know they have it and therefore are at risk of infertility. Yet we continue to have a culture where unsafe, alcoholic sex with strangers is increasingly common among young people.

But no matter how great the need , we cannot get adequate funding to help prepare young people for future relationships. For how many more years will we be researching this topic and getting the same responses. We need quality sex education in Ireland, delivered by teachers and external facilitators, and we need it now.

Deirdre Seery

Executive Director

The Sexual Health Centre

16 Peters Street

Cork