The Boris Johnson Guide to Sex Education

Boris Legs it from 13 year old Fathers for Justice Dad !!!!

So we've all seen the news this week about the 13 year old Dad. What really shocked me wasn't that a 13 year old could become a dad, but on reading the article, he stated that he'd been in a relationship for 2 years - since he was 11. I was reminded of this typically uninformed piece of Daily Mail nonsense http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1039287/Children-young-11-lessons-condom-says-government-report.html complaining that children as young as 11 were being given sex education lessons. Now I've got a 13 and an 11 year old daughter so this is all pretty relevant to me. If someone asks me what I think my daughters should be told about sex, I'd give the answer "What they need to know to protect them from harm". What does this mean practically? Well it means that they need to be told about things that as a Dad I'd rather they didn't know about. I don't want either of my daughters to start embarking on sexual relationships any time soon. If, however they decide they are going to, in this day and age I'd want them to be safe. This means knowing about contraception, STD's and plenty of other things which Daddies don't like thinking about in the context of their daughters. In a school, they have to be told before they actually need the information. If you wait until they are all emotionally mature enough, then I'm afraid it's too late.

So what has all of this got to do with Boris Johnson and London? Well he's the mayor of this fine city. He has appointed James Cleverly as his ambassador for young people. I follow James Cleverly's blog
- as Tory blogs go, it is OK, but for a Young Person's mayor where is the bit about sex education for youngsters. I checked the GLA website - nothing there either. It seems that Boris and his ambassador have nothing to say on this issue WHATSOEVER. Why is this a disgrace and a scandal? Well first, a lack of sex education can result in Children being exposed to diseases. Secondly it exposes them to the risk of pregnancy. Thirdly it exposes them to risk of exploitation.

Tonight as I write this there are prostitues working in this city who are below the age of consent. Tonight there will be youngsters below the age of consent getting STD's and there will be youngsters getting pregnant. Do't believe me? Check these graphs on the Poverty website - http://www.poverty.org.uk/24/index.shtml - London has the third highest rate in the country. What didn't surprise me is the link to poverty. The teenage pregnancy/poverty link is a cancer which eats away at the heart of society. As for prostitution, this is the very best way to contract an STD. Many Holllywood movies sell the image that having sex with a prostitute is a right of passage for young men. The reality is far removed. It is exploitative of women and is one of the main conduits of VD in the UK (and globally). Often these are then passed on to unsuspecting partners. I'd make sure that every young man was graphically made aware of this risk.

Boris is in a position to address this issue. How can a young persons ambassador such as James Cleverly have nothing to say? If I were doing his job, this would be the no 1 priority I set.

So how would I combat it. Well I'd have a look and see which country and which city had the most successful policy. Then I'd steal their policies and ideas. If you check Wikipedia they have a chart of teenage birth/Abortion rates - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_pregnancy - The lowest - the Netherlands which has what we may call a liberal approach. The highest - The good old USA.

Per 1,000 women aged 15 - 19
Country ↓ birth rate ↓ abortion rate ↓ Combined rate ↓
Netherlands 7.7 3.9 11.6
United Kingdom 29.6 21.3 50.9
United States 55.6 30.2 85.8

I find this shocking. In this country the problem with sex is we all bury our head in the sand. Boris & his mates are too scared of the Daily Mail and it's fellow travellers to be honest with us. It is cowardly and it is unforgivable.

For those of you hoping to see "The Boris Johnson Guide to Sex Education" - the big scandal is that no such thing exists and their is no policy that I can see to address this - this is picture is the nearest thing I've seen to Boris trying to improve sex education in London!
The Boris Johnson Sex Education Initiative