Britain's new approach to sex education: enjoy it!!

LONDON —  "An orgasm a day keeps the doctor away."

That got your attention, didn't it?  That's clearly the intention of the authors of a new sex education booklet published by Britain's National Health Service which uses the slogan.   They've given their pamphlet an equally arresting title: "Pleasure."

The booklet tries to take sex ed away from biological discussions about reproductive physiology and "how to" diagrams and into the realm of emotion and the, well, the Joy of Sex, to recycle a phrase. The reason for trying this new approach is that the old one is not working.

Britain has the highest teen pregnancy rate in Europe.  At least part of the reason, according to Steven Slack, head of the Center for HIV & Sexual Health in the northern city of Sheffield, is the way sex is discussed whether in the classroom or the schoolyard. There is still something a bit furtive in the way the Brits discuss the subject. Not that the natives of this island are shy about shagging. According to research by Dr. David Schmitt of Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., Britons are the most promiscuous people in the developed world.

The Dutch may be more famous for being open about sex, Amsterdam's Red Light district being only part of the society's tolerance of sexuality. They come third in Schmitt's promiscuity ranking. Yet the Dutch teen pregnancy rate is about a fifth that of Britain's.  Steven Slack acknowledges Dutch sex education pamphlets provided some of the ideas for his, including teaching young people that sexual pleasure includes an emotional component, not just a physical one.  His hope is that young people will wait to have sex until the emotional side of the equation is in focus.

There has been predictable outrage from the morally excitable conservative press. The Daily Mail quoted Dr. Trevor Stammers, a lobbyist for family values, as saying the pamphlet encouraged underage sex which was "nothing less than encouraging child abuse."
   
My own guess as to the motivation behind the pamphlet is this: Everyone knows that teenagers are complete contrarians. Tell them something is bad for them and you know they will immediately go out and do it. Has "Just say no" ever stopped a teen from smoking a joint?  Similarly if you say something is good for them they will do the opposite. So by telling Britain's teens an orgasm a day is a good thing, the odds are the teens who read the pamphlet will immediately decide, "Orgasms. Who needs them?" Sex twice a week? "Twice a year if you're lucky."
    
Abstinence campaigners should take note of the tactic.

http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/united-kingdom/090717/britains-new-approach-sex-education-enjoy-it