'Sex chats
Sir: John Linklater's article 'Dial a sex chat' is critical of this method of helping the young to understand and cope with their sexuality.
The Family Planning Association has also made use of the telephone in this way since January of this year in the interests of sex education. The number of callers who have listened to the recording to date is 6,093, among whom may be counted young people and those not so young who would never have made an initial approach to us personally. It must be remembered that there are still many individuals who are too bashful to seek contraceptive advice other than by remote control, as it were. By the same token, the development of young people towards sexual maturity is impeded more often than not by their parents' own upbringing, which renders them incapable of advising their offspring. Any method of getting the message across which could help reduce the 250,000 unwanted pregnancies an-' nually — including over 35,000 abortions in girls under twenty — should be praised, rather than criticised.
Caspar Brook Director, the Family Planning Association, 27-35 Mortimer Street, London. WI.
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