Thursday 12th February 2015

Mal Fletcher comments on the role of parents, schools and government in sex education

In some ways, it may set them up to believe they're capable of building deep and lasting relationships when they are not.

In most cases - there may be exceptions, but perhaps only a few - young teens haven't yet developed the emotional perspective to build satisfying and fulfilling relationships that will stand the test of time.

This is why those parents whose children have been involved in sexual liaisons with teachers are so strident in pursuing justice.

While the child might argue the presence of a consensual relationship, the parent sees only cynical adult manipulation of youthful trust and curiosity.

The second lesson to be learned from this study is that media companies - and in particular social media groups - must take seriously their role as promoters of child welfare.

In this country, media companies for the most part do a good job in this regard.

However, on occasions they could do more to support parents, rather than, as sometimes happens, undermining their best efforts.

Nothing is gained by crying (as some media folks and teachers do): 'But so many parents don't do what they should anyway!' Accepting the lowest common denominator simply reinforces it as the norm.

Media companies have often demonstrated their ability to encourage proactive change within mindsets and behaviour - especially among the young.

Hugely influential social enterprises such as Live 8 and the Make Poverty History campaign first gained traction among young adults because of the support of multi-national media companies.

As a result, consumers decided to become activists in pursuit of great causes.

Promoting positive social change is even more visible when it comes to the world of social media, where the young themselves drive the campaigns.

Without the aid of internet social platforms, the Arab Spring would not have happened. Neither would the Women2Drive campaign in the Saudi states or the clean up of English streets after the riots of 2011.

Some of these campaigns met with mixed success, but the fact that they happened at all is testament to the support social media provide for innovative collaboration.

Continued on page 4	Showing page 3 of 4 1 2 3 4

Reader Comments

Posted by John Lee in Oxfordshire @ 09:11 on Feb 19 2015

Amen! It is the role of parents not schools or governments but as parents we often struggle as we ourselves had no role models from our own parents to follow.

It's why we started godlysexuality.org to help equip Christian parents to teach sexuality from a godly point of view.

Parents, we are the ones who can make the difference in our children's lives and be the transformation our society is calling out for.

[reply] [report abuse]

Posted by Kate in Middlesbrough @ 19:20 on Feb 18 2015

I went to a fantastic all girls school where we had sex education that went further than all other schools. Still, we could count off the top of our heads 20 girls in my year who had had three kids by three different men by the age of 18. What the problem was with these girls, all lovely girls, was that they craved love. They had all had boyfriends in their 20s, 30s and even 40s who had convinced them to have sex because they were "in love". As some were under 16 at the time, this is clearly paedophilia, and was widely known about and accepted as being OK and normal. So my first response is to say we need to prosecute any male who has sex/gets pregnant any girl under 16. Second, we need to ask why girls crave love to the point where they go against everything they know is right. My friends all knew what was right and wrong and sensible. But they craved love.

UK society is a place where most girls grow up feeling insecure. And I'm going to point the finger at evangelical Christian society as well as wider society. Evangelical Christianity creates huge insecurities in girls and women. Look at the Cross Rhythms pages - all of the females featured are heavily caked in make up. Most girls and women in the UK refuse to be seen without makeup, believing they are ugly without it - they believe the way God has made them is ugly.

I recently lived in Belgium, where hardly any women at all - from any racial background, age category, class, whatever - hardly any women in Belgium wear makeup. It's the same in a lot of European countries.

In the UK, we have created a very dangerous, unbalanced place for boys and girls emotionally and sexually, and we can change it if we want to.

[reply] [report abuse]

Posted by Yazz in Spain @ 09:57 on Feb 18 2015

Discerning and most important article. I am constantly receiving emails from young female teenagers desperate for help. They are broken often defiled and have no understanding of the beauty of being female, fertile and not objects for someone else's pleasure. Love and sex have merged through media's wrongdoing and for them they equal the same. They sadly, do not talk to their parents. We have another growing parental issue. Parents need parenting. Thank you for this noble piece. Yazz.

[reply] [report abuse]

The opinions expressed in the Reader Comments are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms.

Almost Half Of Teen Girls Are Coerced Into Sex

Mal Fletcher comments on the role of parents, schools and government in sex education

Reader Comments

Add your comment

We welcome your opinions but libellous and abusive comments are not allowed.