That’s the view of Councillor James Coleman, Depute Leader of Glasgow City Council, after the publication of an extensive consultation with the city’s teenagers.

Councillor Coleman, who chairs the Young Person’s Sexual Health Steering Group, says the Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have spent the past two years devising a fresh and comprehensive approach to the sexual health and relationship messages given to young people.  This work has focused on improving existing services as well developing new initiatives where there were gaps in provision.

This includes: -

·     A school based initiative in two Learning Communities in the Glasgow East Community Health Care Partnership area looking at the content and delivery of sexual health and relationship education.

·     The creation of a parents’ project to make it easier for parents to pass on effective sexual health messages to their children.

·     The introduction of young people’s programmes to pass on accurate and reliable sexual health and relationship information in informal settings such as youth groups.

These programmes will provide a blueprint for the future delivery of sexual health and relationship education in Glasgow.

Councillor Coleman said: “We have asked what our teenagers thought about their sexual health and relationships and we now have an obligation to respond to the issues that they have raised.  From both this consultation and the one undertaken earlier this year with Glasgow’s parents we have a clearer understanding of what needs to be done.  We need to find ways to work young people while advocating realistic and responsible attitudes in an open and mature manner.

“A great deal of work has already been undertaken to address the needs of young people in Glasgow but this should only be seen as a beginning. We need to prepare our young people to be practically and emotionally ready to deal with the consequences of sex. 

“Whilst it is appreciated that this may be difficult for some adults, doing nothing for this group of young people is not an option.”

These messages will revolve around ideas such as delay, intimacy, respect and assertiveness. Information contained in the survey results, which drew on the opinions of some 2,700 teenagers, indicates clearly that many of Glasgow’s teenagers are sexually active under the age of sixteen. This fits with national trends, as does the report’s conclusion that many Glasgow young people who engaged in sexual activity are not equipped with the skills to ensure they are sexually competent.

In particular, there are concerns over the use of condoms with a quarter of young people indicating they did not use any kind of protection when they first had intercourse. Follow-up research with young people revealed that young people struggle to initiate the discussion around the use of condoms prior to having sex. Young men were more likely to consider this the responsibility of young women while young woman were reluctant to carry condoms in case it suggested they were ‘easy’.

Other concerns include how many young men see losing their virginity as an achievement which reflects upon their masculinity and how large numbers of young women use alcohol as a means to remove inhibitions and ultimately their responsibility for deciding to engage in sexual activity.  

Linda de Caestecker, Director of Public Health at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “Taken together these findings demonstrate a strong desire by both young people and parents to do things differently. Parents want to be more involved in educating their children and almost half of Glasgow’s young people want more input from their parents.

“Helping to bring both parents and their children closer together should make a substantial difference to the sexual health outcomes of Glasgow’s young people.”

Building stronger bonds between parent and child is the stated aim of the support group project  ‘Talk 2’ as this has been shown to have a clear link with delayed sexual activity among young people. Two staff have now been appointed to drive forward the ‘Talk 2’ programme and they are currently creating links with existing parents groups as well as devising the content of the programme.

Improved links with parents is also a feature of the sexual health and relationships pilot in two of Glasgow East Community Health and Care Partnership’s Learning Communities. This pilot will also see work being done around the content and delivery of the curriculum and teachers being supported to deliver lessons alongside other local professionals from youth services and health where appropriate.

Young people’s programmes are now being established within the city and they will employ the key messages of delay, intimacy, respect and assertiveness as the basis of for an open dialogue with young people.

The Young Person’s Sexual Health Steering Group is a joint body involving Glasgow City Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

In Glasgow in 2005 there were 783 teenage births, a drop of 42 on 2004. As a whole, the UK has the highest figures for teenage pregnancy in Western Europe with rates twice as high as in Germany, three times as high as in France and six times as high as in the Netherlands.

The full report  ‘The Sexual Health and Relationships of Young People in Glasgow’ can be accessed at: www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/youngglasgow/12to18/yoursay