Blame the debs’ ball organisers

THE director of the Sexual Violence Centre in Cork, Mary Crilly, is right to suggest that the provision of condoms to the guests at St Vincent’s secondary school’s debs ball in the city is “a knee-jerk reaction” (September 3) and, like most knee-jerk reactions, will do more harm than good.

It was very disappointing that the organisers had so little confidence that those who attended would behave responsibly.

In fact, the organisers seemed to assume there would be excessive drinking and casual sexual behaviour at the ball. Surely then we should be asking what it is that these teenagers have been taught about the value of human relationships? Have there been any real attempts at discussing, for example, how both alcohol and peer pressure can influence responsible decision-making?