I'm up on my high horse today. Giddy up.

Here's a link to an opinion piece I wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald about the need to treat teenagers with respect when it comes to providing them with information about sex and drugs. Now there's a thought......

"When the moment comes for your child to make the decision whether or not to try sex or drugs for the first time, who's going to be there? You? A teacher? The police? A government health official?

Unlikely. So you'd better hope like hell your teenager has a solid foundation of information with which to inform his or her decision."

Read the rest here.

Comments

[Dataceptionist]

Great piece Mia. Its fantastic to see you writing about important issues in mainstream media. I'd love to be able to write like you.
Keep it up.

[JLo]

You go girl!!!!! I totally agree with every thing you have said- loved it.

[Fiona]

Excellent piece Mia. I remember reading as a teenager a letter in one of the mags (probably in Dolly Dr - it always seemed a little juicier than gf) from this 13 year old girl contemplating anal sex with her much older boyfriend. I think I' was an oh so old 16 or soemthing and seemed a little taken aback that a 13 year old would contemplate such a thing. But I think that the answers were always saying things like" ar you sure you're ready" "you know this is actually illegal for you in your state" "and if you do go ahead, her is a list of precautions - eg condoms, lube etc etc)

but kids need to get the right info someplace. Year 6 kids are giving blow jobs - they need to know how to look after themselves.

Oh the drugs thing, it's the same... though I like sex mroe than drugs, so have paid more attention there!

[Cerry]

Just Say No doesn't work. The people who get scared by the scare tactics weren't going to try drugs or sex anyway. Everyone else just does homework or takes naps during those lectures. And any adult with half a brain should realise that telling teenagers not to do something just makes it all the more appealing.
But at the same time, there's a very fine line between giving people information about the potential consequences of taking drugs, and seeming like you're trying to scare them out of it.

[Elizabeth Fong]

I read your piece in the Herald about 15 minutes ago and I was very, very pleased. I agree with all your points, being a 17 year old girl. When I was about 13 I was reading Dolly every month (everybody was, that was the thing to do back then) and I learnt a whole lot about sex, drugs and dealing with problems from those magazines (thank you for that). A lot of the stuff I learned from the Q&A sections I keep with me today, like always using protection - basic stuff like that. We learn it all again in PD/H/PE anyways, but it's comforting to know other people have the same questions as me.

There is no harm in being informed, I absolutely agree with you. I don't believe it makes us any more likely to do drugs, have sex, etc. I think it has a lot more to do with how people have been brought up, personal problems and friendship groups.

[Nicole]

REALLY well said. The people who condoned these pamphlets either don't have teenage children or they live in denial about what their kids are exposed to. When my kids are at an age when they're considering sex or drugs I hope they have access to as much (good) information as possible.

[Dreamqueen]

Well done Mia, that was a great editorial on this complex issue ... the more we get legislated the more people are going to find other ways to get around it and that's what leads to extreme behaviour/reactions. I see that happening more and more in everyday life ... people want to have freedom to be themselves. This is a real rant of mine so I won't go on about it :-)