Sex education
From Mrs M. Johnston
Sir: May I. as an ordinary mother of two teenage daughters, say a heart-felt 'thank you' to Mr Patrick Cosgrave for his article in August 31 issue 'The politics of sex education'? As one who has for some time felt trapped in the gooey webb of muddled thinking found on all sides today on this subject, this article came as a breath of fresh air and sanity. The evil permissiveness put forward by the FPA has contributed in large measure to the "changed climate of society" we hear so much about. We are all so conditioned to believe that pre-marital sex is. inevitable, and indeed healthy and necessary, that this attitude is . fast becoming part of the fabric of our lives. "We cannot stop what is going on" (words of Mrs Wendy Smith, FPA press secretary). Has anyone seriously tried? If so what has been tried, by whom, and where? I find it very difficult to believe (as the FPA would have us do) that in one generation the sexual urge has become so all-mastering and overpowering that from the age of twelve instruction in techniques to avoid births is the only way out. (I myself did not marry early but spent a chaste life before marriage, as did the vast majority of my contempories, with no tremendous difficulty.) Some, no doubt, would say that was because we did not have the same pressures upon us as have the young people of today. I suggest many of these very Pressures come from the FPA itself and their pundits. It is perhaps relevant and interesting to note that one or two of those who peddle this 'liberating permissiveness' and hand out 'advice' with every appearance of authority, are themselves, on closer inspection — so far from being the specimens of well-balanced health and joyful living they would have us believe them to be — sad individuals with unfortunate adolescent experiences (which they talk about somewhat naively in public) and mixed-up miser able adult lives.
How much longer are we going to
allow ourselves to be brain-washed? What has happened to us when doctors now agree to hand out contraceptives to children without their parents knowledge? When are we going to wake up and face the fact that we are depriving our children of their birthright — that of being allowed to perceive for themselves the clear difference between mere sex and love, of being allowed the natural joys of romance again, of being allowed the gradual and natural growth into full sexual knowledge? There must be an end to this pretence that "nothing can be done." Innocence can be preserved without ignorance, and it is still being preserved against the odds in many homes throughout the country.
This evil teaching put about by the FPA and their supporters (they crop up with surprising regularity in the media) is aiming at the very roots of our society and may be the biggest con trick of the age. Where are the others with the courage of Mr Cosgrave? Perhaps this breath of fresh air will become a much needed wind of change before it is too late.
Margaret Johnston Bywater House, North Moreton, Nr Didcot Sir: Many people must have felt like shouting 'Hurrah' when they read Patrick Cosgrave's article (August 31, 1974), 'The politics of sex education'. For far too long those of us who believe in stable family life have been made to feel that we are odd, puritanical, probably plain, pgssibly spinsters, but if married certainly frigid. In fact it is because we believe human sexuality to be a precious gift that we hate to see it destroyed for many young people by the modern teaching that adolescent sexual experience is harmless and may be positively healthful.
Perhaps the most sinister aspect of today's sex education is an effort to drive a wedge between children and their parents. In Learning to Live with Sex, the following appears: "Girls may be worried about having sex if they are not married. Many people don't go along with these beliefs any more, but if your parents still believe them and think you should too, you may have a rather' difficult time trying to sort out what is the right thing for you to do."
With this attitude it is not surprising that parents of children under sixteen are now deprived of the right to know what drugs family doctors and contraceptive clinics are giving to their children, even though the harmful effects of the 'pill' on very young girls can in some cases be severe.
Jane de Sousa 14 Wilton Crescent, London SW19
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