A GREATER MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY

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A GREATER MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY
A GREATER MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY

HCPRDU Seminar Barbara Hastings-Asatourian
18 September 2002
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• The Current Context
• STIs
• Pregnancy
• Assertiveness and Negotiation Skills
• Access to Services

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Evidence that SRE wasnt right

• BMA, HEA and the Sex Education Forum (1997)
• http//www.medfash.org.uk/publications/documents/s
  chool_sex_education.htm
• Teenage Pregnancy Unit (1999)
• http//www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/seu/publications/
  reports/pdfs/teen_preg.pdf
• DFEE (2000)(now the DFES)
• http//www.dfes.gov.uk/sreguidance/sexeducation.pd
  f
• National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV (DoH
  2001)
• http//www.doh.gov.uk/nshs/bettersexualhealth.pdf
• PHLS (2001 and now 2002)
• http//www.phls.co.uk/topics_az/hiv_and_sti/public
  ations/sti_report2001.pdf

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Probability of Teenage Pregnancy (Kiernan)
A emotional problems at 7 or 16 B mother was
a teenage mother C families who experienced
financial adversity when they were 7 or 16 D a
preference for being a young mother E low
educational attainment at 16.
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Live Birth Rates in Europe
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Declining age of first intercourse
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Assertiveness and Negotiation

• Evidence from APAUSE at the University of Exeter
  and Hill (2000)
• Young people lack the skills to decline sex
  assertively or to ask for alternatives to sexual
  intercourse
• Many express regret
• Many say alcohol played an important part in
  their first sexual experience

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Need

• In my experience of participating in Sex
  Education, suitable off the shelf materials
  were in short supply.

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• Contraception The Board Game was piloted with
  several groups of young people, evaluated and
  developed over a number of years.

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Sources of Evidence for its effectiveness

• Qualitative and quantitative data
• comments and numbers
• Lay and expert opinion.
• User opinion - students, teachers, others
• Media reviews and reports
• Direct responses
• Evaluation forms
• Press releases

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Pupils/Students

• It was better than formal lessons, it was fun
  and very educational
• It was very interactive and much more
  educational. We were even asking questions to
  the male teachers which we wouldnt normally do

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continued

• Instead of having a teacher explain things, it
  was more like talking to your friends - if youre
  a quiet person it may be hard to talk about sex.
  The game provides a way of talking about it
  without embarassment

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What teachers say

• ...very well received indeed by the students in
  year 10 and 11.Our local health visitors have
  also been much impressed by them. The game is by
  far and away the best material I have ever used
  with young people (SRE teacher)
• The general consensus.. praise, at last a fun,
  relaxed and INTERESTING tool for teaching PSD

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What Young People say (Granada and Tyne Tees TV

• Its interesting and you learn a lot about all
  the different things. The teachers were really
  good with us and its easier in a smaller group
• Its a very good way to learn about the safe ways
  and risks of contraceptionjust what we need to
  talk about at the minute
• Is a very good way.. Its for all kinds of races
  and sexes of people..you dont have to talk about
  anything personal
• Id rather do it on a board game than like talk
  to people

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What do young people think? From evaluations

• POSITIVE
• Very good design
• Gives group interaction
• Gives opportunity for talk
• Gives useful websites
• Better for small group work
• Good idea for youth clubs

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What do young people think? From evaluations

• NEGATIVE
• Dont like board games - boring
• Needs more on personal relationships

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What do teachers think?
What this takes forward is the idea that they
are in control, they are the decision makers and
the more they know and understand, the better
will be those decisionsthis is good
education The children thought it was superb,
they liked the fact that they played it in small
groups
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Examples of Mass Media Coverage and Sample of
Subsequent Feedback

• Framing of an issue

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Mass Media Response
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Mass Media Response - Nationally
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The anti sex education lobby..

• It is based on the premise that under-age
  children will indulge in sex. The makers seem
  oblivious of the fact that this assumption will
  encourage youngsters to believe under-age sex is
  fine - or at worst morally neutral John de Waal
• Other opponents Parents Networks Family
  Values Groups
• Parents against oral contraception for children

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UK Life league - Press Release

• this week saw a watershed of perversion and
  child abuse ...more suitable to an Anne Summers
  Sex Party than a class full of children

Christian Institute Press Release
This game is just corrupting. The idea is for
children to work their way around a board using
counters in the shape of different
contraceptives. In any other setting an adult
who asked a child to play a game like this would
be arrested
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• I was saddened to see your board game which will
  not help our youngsters at all as it promotes the
  same safe sex myth which has dismally failed
  for the past 30 years resulting in this coutries
  depressive state of high teen pregnancy and
  abortion rates and spiralling STIs

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Spontaneous letter from a teacher

• I was horrified to see reference to methods of
  contraception ranging from abstinence to
  abortion - whilst I agree that the issue of
  abortion needs to be discussed in SRE, to present
  it as a method of contraception is totally
  unacceptable. Needless to say I will not be
  ordering this teaching aid from you. (Head of
  PSE)

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Any questions