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Showing posts from 2011

A brief history of Sexting - A blogger missing the point?

A brief history of sexting and the power of media manipulation  Blog by Adam McLane Whilst I was interested in reading this article I disagree with some of its conclusions. At the moment I am doing some research in the UK looking at online risk taking behaviour with students aged 13-15. I work as a sex and relationship educator and have started including content on sexting with the lessons we teach in high schools. Whilst the history of sexting you outlined seems true and likely the media has done a great job of whipping up the issue I think the problem of sexting is larger then 1%. Our study which in this round has had 160 young people has a higher rate with 20% having seen a naked picture of someone they know. Now in a group of just 160 young people it could 1 or 2 have sent a naked picture and most have seen copies of these 1% pictures. But 20% seeing a naked picture of someone they know is significant. Last year we did not ask that question but we did ask h

Great news, British u-turn on HPV vaccine

Great news, British u-turn on HPV vaccine It was always a confusing decision in my eyes. Why choose the vaccine that only prevents cervical cancer when it is easy to also prevent Genital Warts. Now genital warts are not deadly or really very painful but they are uncomfortable and the cost the NHS £1000s in treatment, by laser, liquid of freezing. The original decision was claimed to be made for finical reasons but it has been shown that preventing warts in this way will save money in the long term. Now a moral objection has been claimed by some groups. With the idea that if you prevent people catching warts they will have more unprotected sex with multiple partners outside of committed relationships. I think that this argument has blinked and missed the sexual revolution from the pill and condom. Warts are not stopping people having sex, curing them will just save money and prevent peoples discomfort. Google : " Switch in cervical cancer vaccine BBC News From September next year

Great article exploring one women's experience of publicly talking about sex I read this article and felt a few…

Great article exploring one women's experience of publicly talking about sex I read this article and felt a few things, firstly sad for her that she had to go through this grief with some of her family, encouraged that she stood up for herself, especially how her parents stood up for her work and finally I wondered will I ever have to face anything similar? Specifically by working as a sex and relationship educator from a Christian perspective will I start to get any kick back. Already I find some main stream sexual health workers treating me with suspicion because they hear I'm Christian. And Christians get worried that I am encouraging early sexual activity because I do talk about more then just abstinence. I feel it is a slightly odd position to be in. So far I have been blessed with friends and family that support and encourage me every steep of the way. I truely hope that I never face criticism from people close to me like + A.V. Flox has. Working in the field of sexua

A growing threats from STIs?

Working as a sex and relationship educator means I am always learning new things. I was reading this article  on the BBC website looking at  several new outbreaks of syphilis among heterosexual teenagers in the UK. For me this is an especially worrying development because this is not the only STI that is getting ready for a come back. It has also been recorded that gonorrhea  is becoming resistant to antibiotics . HIV also seems poised for a resurgence  in the EU. If STIs continue to develop and return bigger and badder then before the role of sexual health workers could become more vital then ever.  In my work we focus on both the emotional, social and physical aspects of both sex and relationships. It is a key unique theme of our work to help young people deal with the emotional side, an element that some providers skip to target the biological risks. Whilst I feel this is damaging in the long term I can see the point in responding to the biological risk under increasing

US study shows 1 in 10 young people have sent a sext This US study reports that 1 in 10 young people have sent a sext…

US study shows 1 in 10 young people have sent a sext This US study reports that 1 in 10 young people have sent a sext A similar figure to my own study reporting on risky sexual behaviour http://www.esteemresourcenetwork.org/risk-taking-behaviour-sexting . However this study takes a much larger sample and this report goes on to highlight a link between sexting and mental health issues such as depression. The report states that " it shows an association but not a causal relationship" this means that they cannot prove sexting is a cause of mental health issues. The two things may be associated because they have the same or similar causes. For example reckless risk taking (such as sexting) might be linked to issues with self esteem which could also have mental health consequences. Personally I believe that sexting is not a passive consequence but instead I think it is a consequence that feeds back into a young persons complex personal situation often having a negative impact.

Why the Socratic Method is unpopular, Just been inspired to write this article about how the Socratic Method of…

Why the Socratic Method is unpopular, Just been inspired to write this article about how the Socratic Method of education is unpopular after hearing about an american lecturer was fired for using it. It is crazy that in today's post-modern world this ancient method is scorned. Teaching today requires simple learn and repeat like a parrot so that they can be measured. But this method does not help create great workers capable of dealing with the challenges of the current working culture. http://blindfishideas.blogspot.com/2011/11/fired-for-making-students-think-with.html #sexed Why the Socratic Method is unpopular, Just been inspired to write this article about how the Socratic Method of… http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png from Gareth Cheesman - Google+ Post Feed https://plus.google.com/105027235212851335345

#SexEd This is the strangest TED video I've seen buit does give some interesting information for sex and…

#SexEd This is the strangest TED video I've seen buit does give some interesting information for sex and relationship educators http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/mary_roach_10_things_you_didn_t_know_about_orgasm.html #SexEd This is the strangest TED video I've seen buit does give some interesting information for sex and… http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png from Gareth Cheesman - Google+ Post Feed https://plus.google.com/105027235212851335345

#SexEd Mixed reaction to the new series of 'The Joy of Teen Sex' on channel 4I have mixed feelings as a Sex and…

#SexEd Mixed reaction to the new series of 'The Joy of Teen Sex' on channel 4 I have mixed feelings as a Sex and Relationship Educator and as a community youth worker. I do think that broadly attempts to help teenagers understand sex is a good thing. But this show may have the balance slightly off. The accusation from many conservative observers is that the show encourages and normalises early teenage sex. The whole show does try to present a balanced programme where they show genital health issues, sexual behaviour problems, better sex tips, emotional problems and they investigate issues, like pressures teenagers face on holiday about sex. Even with this wide scope I thinkit may be slightly unbalanced towards promoting more teenage sex. The first episode had some reat bits of info like "the vagina is cleaner then the mouth." and 75% of women with gonorrhoea have no symptoms. They also gave out some great advice that all sex and relationships should be underpinned

Huff Po Highlights the moral questions involved with slutty Halloween I have always been surprised how girl react to…

Huff Po Highlights the moral questions involved with slutty Halloween I have always been surprised how girl react to Halloween. Normally reserved girls may suddenly dress up like vixen exposing more flesh in the middle of Autumn then they ever do at the height of summer. Beyond just the amount on show it surprises me how much much sexually suggestive and provocative content finds it way into to costumes. Now I do believe that for some girls they are choosing this style and may even find it freeing but my concern is the growing social pressure to conform to this pressure. It is well established that media impacts young minds. I doubt that every young girl is happy in the costume they are finding themselves in. I do feel this issue highlights how sexism is still a strong undercurrent in culture with the expectations it places on women. I believe this is an example of how women are still expected to be sexual objects for men. Objects that must conform to specific pressures. Pressure tha

learning more about the structure of HIV

learning more about the structure of HIV Found this up close representation of the HIV virus. Liking how I know kinda understand what the different parts all do. #sexed http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png from Gareth Cheesman - Google+ Post Feed https://plus.google.com/105027235212851335345

I created this image to use as a discussion starter in my work, what do people think about it? I wanted to think about…

I created this image to use as a discussion starter in my work, what do people think about it? I wanted to think about how gender equality is often present in attitudes towards oral sex, especially (but not always) by me. #sexed from Gareth Cheesman - Google+ Post Feed https://plus.google.com/105027235212851335345http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Digital sexual contact

This week I have read 3 separate stories (just on BBC) all talking about how the internet is negatively impacting the sexual health of the nation. Young get sex health warning http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14837229 MPs told young children accessing explicit porn http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14845299 .XXX web domain registration begins http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14821192 Now the third one might be a bit unconnected but the discussion around it all fits. What is the modern impact of all the sexual content on the internet. For one year I have been teaching on the issue of "sexting" in secondary schools. Working hard to try and help young people understand the emotional consequences of taking the risk of sharing naked or provocative pictures. This work has opened up my perspective to the much larger area of the impact of digital sexual content. Trying to do research on this topic is a lot harder then looking at STIs. Emotional and social consequences can not b

SRE YouTube Playlist

I've put together a YouTube playlist of Videos that may be useful in Sex and Relationship Education. Please have a look and leave any comments or suggestions about the videos.   http://www.youtube.com/p/4A843CDAB280FDA3?version=3&hl=en_US&fs=1