Scare tactics or softly, softly?

Posted on 17. Feb, 2009 by Claire in Communications, Health, News

No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible – Voltaire

The news last week that teen pregnancies in the UK are at the lowest rate in 20 years, but are still the highest in Europe, was somewhat overshadowed by the uncannily timed birth of baby Maisie to parents Alfie, 13 and Chantelle, 15, which stole all the headlines that day. Apparently, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show a 13 per cent drop in teen pregnancies between 1998 and 2006, although numbers are thought to be on the rise again in the last year.

The Government is aiming to halve the teen conception rate by the end of 2010 by spending £27 million on family planning. While Alfie and Chantelle present an extraordinary case (they are younger than most), it got me thinking whether all this money is being well spent. I confess, I don’t know exactly how it is being spent other than on sex education in schools, but if the Tories are right and numbers are on the increase again, it would suggest that it is money being poured down the drain.

Is it that sex education is not happening until kids have already learned what they need to know in the playground? One thing is for sure, sex education should include the consequences of engaging in sexual relations, not just the differences between boys and girls. By all accounts, while knowing what sex was, Alfie didn’t know what the consequences of his actions could be. But that’s not to say its fine to have sex at this young age as long as you know what it could lead to. A true understanding of what can happen, and being in a position to take responsibility for ones actions would be ideal. I remember one idea that I thought was excellent in really bringing home the reality of an unwanted pregnancy; lifelike dolls were given to teenage girls in Bristol, which were programmed to wake at all hours of the night and cry for half an hour. One girl said it was the worst night of her life. I doubt she was in a hurry to have a real baby after that.

This is surely preferable to simply telling children they shouldn’t have sex, or should use contraception. Since when did children listen to what they should or shouldn’t do? In fact, they are likely to do the exact opposite of whatever adults tell them. The public health messages that have stuck with me from childhood have always brought home the consequences. As an avid Grange Hill fan, I remember thinking that, like Zammo, I was certain to die if I ever tried heroin.

Perhaps this principle could be applied to other public health campaigns. Instead of simply telling young people to eat well, move more and live longer as the Government’s Change4Life is doing, or to ‘Know Your Units’ we need to communicate to our youth what will happen if we continue to live as we are doing; fear can be a great motivator if the consequence is perceived to be immediate. Telling kids what may happen when they are ‘old’ (over 30 years to them) seems too far in the future.

Alfie and Chantelle are to be congratulated for one thing: taking responsibility for their actions. When individuals learn to take responsibility for their own actions and their health, then we will be able to tackle the many public health time bombs of our future.

What is more likely to make you change your ways: Positive messages or scary consequences?

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Tags: public health

2 Comments

Neil Crump

18. Feb, 2009

I am in two minds on this issue. A good example of the scary message (and execution) is the current government speed limit campaign. It is very thought provoking and helps keep my eye on my speedometer. Fear is a very powerful emotion and properly harnessed it does arrest us, a red traffic light moment, that allows us to sit at amber and ponder our decisions before we put our foot (softly) on the accelerator as the light turns green. I just fear a time if fear becomes our only sensitizer to behavioural change - we are going to be in poor shape as a collective if we live in fear. A few positive messages are what we all need - as long as the consequences of our action are clearly spelt out.

PS: I personally think Change4Life hits the right tone and I love my own personalised character that you can develop against your own profile on th campaign website. PPS: I loved Grange Hill as well.

NW1er

23. Feb, 2009

What you’re saying Claire seems to align with the Government’s new child education leaflet, “Talking to Your Teenager About Sex and Relationships”, which was reported in a couple of papers this weekend. Apparently, educating children about sex should avoid a moral tone because they do not respond well to this.

I don’t know whether the leaflet will talk about consequences as I’ve not yet seen it - we’ll have to grab a copy when it is available from pharmacies at the start of March. In the mean time, you can read the broadsheet chatter it has caused at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2009/feb/22/sex-education-teenagers. Note the suggested use of celebrities in the educational process - Zammo would be proud.

I found this vinyl in my parent’s loft, which is a 7 incher by a very well-to-do female doctor, designed to educate children about sex. I guess the notion was that if you were too embarrassed to talk to your kids, you could sit them down, pop on the record and leave them for half an hour to learn all about the ‘birds and the bees’. I really want to sample it, it’s the makings of a new club anthem, I’m sure. Fortunately, I was never subjected to this form of education - I think my parents have it for comedy value. I’m of the generation that grew up with the book containing pink and blue robots with extending antennas and docking ports. Tell me someone else read that book, right?

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