B4uDecide.ie – Get The Facts Without The Lecture
Website for Teenagers about Relationships and Sexual Health
#B4uDecide
* See caption at end of press release.
The popular B4udecide education programme, which provides online relationship and sexual information to young people, today launched its new b4uDecide.ie website.
The B4uDecide educational initiative developed by the HSE Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme in partnership with the Department of Education and Skills and the National Youth Council Ireland (NYCI) aims to encourage teenagers to make healthy, responsible decisions about relationships and sexual health and to delay early sex among adolescents.
The Programme recently surveyed 100 15-18 year olds to collect data that gives an overview of how aware young people are of the B4uDecide website, whether they would visit the site, what information they would like on the site and where they would like it promoted.
More than anything, young people said that they wanted the ‘facts without the lecture’. They wanted factual information relating to STIs, contraception, age of consent, relationships, peer pressure, sexual assault and also more information for parents.
They also wanted faster downloads, more interactivity and personal stories. When asked where they would go for information, they said family, friends and the internet.
B4udecide.ie now features video interviews with young people talking about their own experiences and real life stories from teenage parents. It features new quizzes and polls, faster downloads and information on building healthy friendships and relationships, peer pressure, feeling good about yourself, why it’s better to wait before having sex, the age of consent, contraception, STIs, crisis pregnancy and much more.
Speaking today at the launch of the new B4uDecide.ie at the Foroige & HSE Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme ‘Developments in Relationships & Sex Education’ event, Dr. Cate Hartigan, HSE Head of Health Promotion and Improvement commented;
“Young people experience immense pressure from a range of sources including their peers, boyfriends, girlfriends and the media. How teenagers differ is in their ability to cope with and respond to these pressures. State organisations, parents, teachers and youth workers must work together to ensure that all young people are similarly equipped with the knowledge and confidence to handle the pressures they experience and make healthy, informed decisions about relationships and sex.
In doing this, we can help them face the many challenges that they encounter during early adolescence and not rush into sexual activity at an early age”.
Schools, teachers, parents and youth workers all play a vital part in ensuring that young people are equipped with the knowledge and skills to develop supportive relationships and make responsible decisions in matters of social, personal and sexual health.
The website is supported by resource materials for teachers and youth workers that are based on the RSE curriculum for Junior Cycle, and have a particular focus on the knowledge and skills needed to deal with common challenges presented by friendships and relationships in early adolescence.
The resource materials can be downloaded directly from www.B4uDecide.ie or through training with the NYCI www.youth.ie or DES www.sphe.ie.
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors
*Image Caption: From L-R Maeve O’Brien, HSE Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme, Caoimhe McClafferty, Foróige, Sue Redmond, Foroige, Roisin Guiry, HSE Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme at the ‘Developments in Relationships & Sexuality Education’ Seminar.
In 2006, the Crisis Pregnancy Agency and the Department of Health and Children published the Irish Study of Sexual Health and Relationships. It is a nationally representative study. For this study, 7441 Irish people from all over the country were interviewed over the phone. The study was carried out by the Royal College of Surgeons and the Economic and Social Research Institute.
- The majority of young people have sex for the first time at age 17 or older. This compares favourably with the UK where the age of first sex is 16.
- Girls who had sex under age 17 were over 70% more likely to have a crisis pregnancy in their lifetime.
- Girls who had sex under age 17 were three times more likely to have an abortion in their lifetime.
- Boys and girls under 17 were twice as likely to get a sexually transmitted infection in their lifetime.
- Girls and boys who had sex under age 17 were more likely to say that they regretted it, that it was not a natural follow-on in their relationship and that they were not in love with the person.
- They were also more likely to say that they never had sex with that person again.
Teenage Birth Rate
Since the establishment of the HSE Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme (formerly the Crisis Pregnancy Agency) in 2001, the total number of births to teenagers has decreased from 3,087 in 2001 to 1,381 in 2013, a decline of 55% over 12 years. This equates to a decrease in the teenage birth rate from 20 per 1000 of women aged 15-19 in population in Ireland in 2001 to 10per 1000 of women aged 15-19 in population in 2013.
* The rates were calculated per 1000 females aged 15-44 population based on CSO data.
Contraceptive Use Among Sexually Active Teenagers
The Health Behaviour in School Aged Children Survey 2010 (published 2012) found that 27% of 15-17 year olds reported that they have had sex and that 93% of them used a condom at last intercourse and almost 60% of them used the contraceptive pill to prevent a pregnancy.
Relationship and Sex Education
The Irish Contraception and Crisis Pregnancy Study (2010), a nationally representative study of the general population found that 86% of young people aged 18-25 received sex education as teenagers, compared with 76% of 26-35 year olds. Of those who received sex education, approximately 90% of 18-25 year olds said that they received it in school, compared with 80% of 26-35 year olds.
The quality of sex education has improved, with 70% of young people saying that it was helpful to them in their relationships, compared to 60% of 26-35 year olds. Those who received sex education were 1.5 times more likely to have used contraception at first sex than those who did not receive sex education. Approximately 90% of young people aged between 18-25 said that they used contraception the first time they had sex. 80% of young people say that they use contraception consistently, every time they have sex.
Age of Consent
The Irish Contraception and Crisis Pregnancy Study 2010 (published 2012) found that the median age for first sex remained stable between 2003 and 2010 at 17 years of age for men, and increased slightly for women, from 17 years to 18 years of age.
Supports for Teachers and Youth Workers
B4uDecide.ie resource materials for teachers and youth workers can be downloaded directly from www.B4uDecide.ie or through training with the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) or by the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST). For details of courses through the NYCI visit www.youth.ie or via the PDST visit www.sphe.ie
To order copies of the B4uDecide.ie promotional poster email info@crisispregnancy.ie. or for other relationship and sexual health materials please visit www.healthpromotion.ie
Supports for Parents
Resources for Parents, Teachers and Youth workers – The HSE Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme has developed a number of resources to assist parents, teachers and youth workers in providing age-appropriate information to children and adolescents on relationships, sexuality and growing up:
‘Busy Bodies’ – Resource for parents of 10-14 year olds
‘You can talk to me’ – Resource for parents of 11-15 year olds
‘Advice for Mam’s and Dad’s – Talking to teenagers about relationships and sex’ – Resource for parents of older adolescents
‘The Facts’ – DVD for parents teachers and youth workers. It contains information on fertility, contraception, STIs and crisis pregnancy, plus a condom demonstration.
All resources are available free of charge from www.healthpromotion.ie
