September 19th 2011
MINISTER FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH AFFAIRS AND MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND SKILLS
COMMENT ON NEW LESSON PLANS TO DELAY EARLY FIRST SEX AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE
The HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme?s 2010 Annual Report was launched today by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Ms Frances Fitzgerald T.D.? This is the first Annual Report from the HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme, (formerly the Crisis Pregnancy Agency), since it transferred to the HSE in January 2010.
The Annual Report describes an ambitious portfolio of work delivered by the Programme in 2010and is available on www.crisispregnancy.ie
The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs also announced the publication of new lesson plans for teachers and youth workers developed by the Programme with the Department of Education and Skills and support from the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI). The new lesson plans form part of a wider education initiative, ?b4udecide.ie?, for younger teenagers aiming to encourage them to make healthy, responsible decisions about relationships and sex. The b4udecide.ie lesson plans, together with the TRUST pack and DVD (for senior cycle RSE), complement the comprehensive range of high quality resources available to post-primary schools in the delivery relationships and sexuality education.
The b4udecide.ie educational initiative was developed in response to extensive research, which found that young people are having sex at an earlier age than in previous generations and young peoplewho experience first sexual intercourse before 17 years of age are 70% more likely to experience crisis pregnancy in their lifetime,3 times more likely to report having a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and 3 times more likely to experience abortion. Those who had sex before 17 were also more likely to wish they had waited longer before having sex.
Speaking today, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald, T.D. said: ?Taking a holistic approach that facilitates and supports young people to make responsible decisions is essential if we are to nurture rounded, creative and confident minds and to equip our young people with the skills they will need to make informed decisions.
In developing the b4udecide lesson plans there has been a combined effort by the Crisis Pregnancy Programme, the Department of Education and Skills and the National Youth Council. Taking an integrated approach and developing cross-sectoral initiatives is, I believe, in the best interests of our young people.
My Department is committed to working in an integrated way, with all stakeholders, to better co-ordinate our approach to developing programmes for young people. We also need to ensure that parents, teachers and youth workers are supported in taking an effective role in delivering relationships and sexuality education. Everyone has a role to play in ensuring our young people grow up to be well-informed and confident in the decisions they take ? my Department will work tirelessly to ensure that this is realised.?
The Minister went on to say ?Young people today talk about how they experience pressures to engage in sexual behaviour from many sources including friends, boyfriends, girlfriends and the media.? Teenagers and indeed younger children are exposed to more sexual messaging than at any time in the past. In this context, young people need good, clear information from their parents, schools and youthwork settings on how to establish and conduct happy, safe, loving relationships and how to avoid crisis pregnancy and STIs.?
Responding to the launch of the lesson plans Minister for Education and Skills, Mr. Ruairi Quinn, T.D. ?I am very pleased to see the collaboration between the education sector and the HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme in bringing forward these important resources?.
The Minister went on to say ?Relationships and Sexuality Education is a vital part of the education of our young people.? We know from previous studies that many young people find it difficult to talk to their parents about sex and relationships.? This makes access to RSE in schools and access to age appropriate factual and objective website information all the more important.? The Department of Education and Skills? will continue its drive to improve the consistent delivery of relationships and sexuality education in post primary schools throughout the country?.
Dr. Stephanie O?Keeffe, Acting Director of the Crisis Pregnancy Programme added, ?Providing sex education, in school and in the home, is the single most important thing we can do to prevent unplanned pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted infections. While we have seen sustained reductions in teenage pregnancy and teenage abortion rates over the last 10 years, evidence shows that young people continue to face immense pressures from the internet, advertising and of course, their peers.? The Crisis Pregnancy Programme will be coordinating a large scale dissemination of the lesson plans to post primary schools and youth work settings over the coming months?.
The HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme is now operating as a national programme in the Integrated Services Directorate of the Health Service Executive. The annual report is available to download at www.crisispregnancy.ie.?
Editor?s Notes:
1. The HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme (formerly the Crisis Pregnancy Agency) is tasked with developing and implementing a national strategy to achieve the following core objectives:
i. To reduce the number of crisis pregnancies by the provision of information, advice and contraceptive services.
ii. To reduce the number of women with crisis pregnancies who opt for abortion by offering services and supports which make other options more attractive.
iii. To provide counselling services, medical services and such other health services for the purpose of providing support, after crisis pregnancy as may be deemed appropriate by the Crisis Pregnancy Programme.
2.??Since the establishment of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency in 2001 sustained decreases in the number of women giving Irish addresses at abortion clinics in the UK and the number of births to teenagers have been recorded.? The number of women giving Irish addresses at UK abortion clinics has declined by 34% from 6,673 in 2001 to 4,402 in 2010.? The number of births to teenagers has declined from 3,087 in 2001 to 2,019 in 2010.Teenage births have decreased by 35% since 2001.
3. The Irish Study of Sexual Health and Relationships (ISSHR, 2006) is the largest nationally representative study on sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviour ever undertaken in Ireland. It was published by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency and the Department of Health and Children in 2006 and used a sample size of 7,441 adults, men and women aged between 18-64 years. The Economic and Social Research Institute and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland completed the survey work (lead by Professors Richard Layte and Hannah McGee).
ISSHR found that the average age of first sexual intercourse among 18 - 24 year in Ireland is 17 years, which tells us that most people wait until they are 17 or older to have sex.? 31% of young men aged 18 - 24 and 22% of young women aged 18 - 24 reported that they had sexual intercourse before the age of 17.
ISSHR found that when compared with those who had first sex after 17 years, those who had first sex before the age of 17 were:?
?????????More likely to experience a crisis pregnancy at some stage in their lives
?????????More likely to have had an abortion
?????????More likely to report having sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
?????????More likely to regret that sex happened at that point
?????????Less likely to have used contraception at first intercourse
In an analysis of respondents under 30 years, findings demonstrate that men and women who had sex before age 17 were considerably more likely to say they ?should have waited longer?.??
4. The Agency has developed a number of other resources to assist parents in providing age-appropriate information to their children on relationships and sex:
? 'Busy Bodies'- Resource for parents of 10-14 year olds - Parents can order a copy by ?freetexting BUSY followed by their name and address to 50444.
? ?You can talk to me?- Resource for parents of 11-15 year olds - Parents can order a copy by freetexting PARENT followed by their name and address to 50444.
? 'Parents, Tips for Talking to Teenagers- Resource for parents of teenagers- Parents can order a copy by freetexting TALK followed by their name and address to 50444.
? The Facts DVD - Resource for parents of 15-17 year olds - Contains information on fertility, contraception, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and crisis pregnancy. Parents can order a copy by freetexting FACTS followed by their name and address to 5044
Last updated on: 19 / 09 / 2011
Source: http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/newscentre/crisispregnancyannualreportlaunch.html
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