Tuesday, January 3, 2017

So, abortion doesn't harm women's mental health? The stats disagree By Adelaide Mena

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There are facts and truths that "sexual libertarians" don't want society or public opinion to know, that even they don't want to know. To sum up those facts - accumulated in different human cultures and societies - we don't need sex to live a full life and be content. To define one's identity on the basis of our sexuality alone is to reduce our human value and dignity. I am a lot more than just my genitalia, and so are you. G.S.

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best human efforts to make sense of our lives - and of our human sexuality in particular - also including the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium. The Church has been accumulating much valuable wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7 
Father Gilles Surprenant, priest & poustinik

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So, abortion doesn't harm women's mental health? The stats disagree
By Adelaide Mena 

Washington D.C., Jan 3, 2017 A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that women who get abortions show no signs of increased mental health problems after having an abortion – and that in fact, it's women who are denied an abortion that suffer more greatly.

But pro-life organizations and other researchers have responded that the study doesn't show the whole picture, and that these findings don't mean that women don't regret their abortions. They also counter that similar studies involving an exorbitantly higher number of women have shown the opposite results, and that everything needs to be taken into account.

“I confess I'm not that surprised at what it uncovered, and it's important for abortion opponents to neither instantly vilify the study nor to fear what it can tell us,” Mark Regnerus, associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin told CNA.

“A sober assessment is in order.”

The study, called the “Turnaway Study” was conducted by researchers from University of California – San Francisco and tracked 956 women from 21 states for more than five years. The women – all of whom had sought abortion – were interviewed once a week after seeking out an abortion, and then every six months for that five year period.

Antonia Biggs and Diana Greene Foster, two of the researchers who wrote the study, told CNA in a statement that in their study, women who were denied abortions had more mental health repercussions – like anxiety, lower self-esteem and less life satisfaction, in the short-term than women who had abortions. The study also found that by six months these rates of mental health consequences were similar. Both groups of women  had “ similar levels of depressive symptoms over the entire five year period,” of the study the researchers commented.

“We found no evidence of increases in mental health problems after having an abortion,” they added. Critics, however, say that the relatively short length of the study doesn’t account for women who come regret their abortion many years later, nor does it mean that a lack of depression or other mental health effects means that women don’t experience regret.

Ana-Maria Dumitru, director of Medical Students For Life, told CNA that other studies have come to opposite conclusions. Dumitru pointed to astudy by Dr. D Paul Sullins of the Catholic University of America published earlier in 2016 followed more than 8,000 women for over 13 years.

“The Sullins study confirmed that even after controlling for over twenty possible variables, there's still a clear, significant increase in the relative risk of mental health disorders for women who have abortions.” These risks, she added were compared to both live birth and miscarriage outcomes. Other studies from New Zealand and Norway also showed similar increased risks of mental health issues for women who have abortions, she added.

Regnerus helped explain some of the design of the study to CNA. He said that while abortion is not his area of study, there were some reasonable interpretations and qualifications to be made of the findings from a social sciences perspective. He said the basic design of the study was “competent,” since the researchers were able to track nearly 1,000 women over the five-year time span, and that the findings were “illuminating.”

He added that it’s reasonable to expect that women who do not see abortion as wrong would experience abortion differently. “Some, of course, may come to think differently about their abortion weeks, months, or even years later. Others seem not to,” he said.

Regnerus also noted that “no study can do it all,” and that there are some indirect effects between abortion and emotional consequences that the study could not assess. The professor also pointed out that regret and depression “are two different things,” and the study doesn’t delve into women’s regret about their abortions “and that's fine because it's not a study of regret.”

The professor also pointed to flaws in the study that might be overlooked by most casual readers. Regnerus noted that there was “a good deal of sample selection bias – only 32 percent of women approached actually participated, leaving us to wonder if there are differences between they and the 68 percent who didn't.”

Furthermore, the study was unable to keep track of 42 percent of the original participants. Regnerus added that while these kinds of sample selection bias and challenges in collecting data are difficult to avoid in studies, particularly on a subject like abortion, they do introduce unknowns into the study.

Regnerus said that the study's focus on near-term emotions such as anxiety or self-esteem “are too tangled up in the emotions of the event, the circumstances surrounding pursuing an abortion,” and said he thought it was a “leap for the authors to draw sensible conclusions” from such data.

What was more noteworthy, he commented was the study’s tracking of depression over the five year period, which remained constant. “The ability to track the direct effect of abortion on depression longer-term,” he noted, “is this study's contribution.”

“It is unreasonable to presume that every abortion conducted in the United States – and elsewhere, for that matter – will make the woman who sought it troubled or sad over the long run,” Regnerus added.

“It does for plenty, no doubt. We hear about it. On the other hand, we hear of accounts to the contrary.”

Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life said that in her experience, even in cases where there is regret and suffering, those feelings can lead to more positive states of healing.

“Abortion takes the life of one and often wounds the life of another,” Mancini told CNA. “Some women only come to discover such deep wounds after many years, sometimes decades,” she said, pointing out again that the study only covered a five-year span.

“My personal experience in working with women who regret abortion is that when a woman honestly faces the truth of what’s happened, she suffers tremendously, but this in turn is the first step to finding real and lasting hope and healing.” 

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/so-abortion-doesnt-harm-womens-mental-health-the-stats-disagree-39867/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email

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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best efforts as human beings to make sense of our lives in general - and of our human sexuality in particular - and to also include the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium; given that the Church has been accumulating the wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7     G.S.

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© 2006-2023 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2023 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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Monday, October 24, 2016

How parishes can help address the epidemic of domestic abuse

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There are facts and truths that "sexual libertarians" don't want society or public opinion to know, that even they don't want to know. To sum up those facts - accumulated in different human cultures and societies - we don't need sex to live a full life and be content. To define one's identity on the basis of our sexuality alone is to reduce our human value and dignity. I am a lot more than just my genitalia, and so are you. G.S.

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best human efforts to make sense of our lives - and of our human sexuality in particular - also including the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium. The Church has been accumulating much valuable wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7 
Father Gilles Surprenant, priest & poustinik

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How parishes can help address the epidemic of domestic abuse By Matt Hadro Washington D.C., Oct 13, 2017


Credit: Yupa Watchanakit via Shutterstock.

Domestic violence is a hidden epidemic that many clergy and laypersons need additional training to address, says one priest who runs the country’s largest parish-based ministry to counter the problem.

“When you start talking about it, that’s when people will start coming forward,” Fr. Chuck Dahm, O.P., who directs domestic violence outreach for the Archdiocese of Chicago, told CNA about the problem of domestic abuse.

Fr. Chuck said that many priests and deacons have little preparation to assist victims of domestic violence, and that more seminary training would be helpful for both preparing priests and raising awareness on the issue.  

 He said that “When I Call for Help,” a pastoral letter on domestic violence from the USCCB, is a helpful resource for clergy looking for more understanding.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. According to the CDC, “intimate partner violence” can be physical, sexual, or even emotional, as with instances of stalking or “psychological aggression.”

Some 27 percent of women in the U.S. have suffered intimate partner violence at some point, along with 12 percent of men, the CDC has reported.

There are many physical and psychological effects of domestic violence on victims – physical injuries and disabilities and bodily effects of stress, but also anxiety, depression, and trust issues. Children witnessing violence in the home may grow up with emotional problems like anger, or may even become abusers themselves when they are adults.

In his apostolic exhortation on the family, Amoris laetitia, Pope Francis wrote of the problem of domestic abuse:

“Unacceptable customs still need to be eliminated. I think particularly of the shameful ill-treatment to which women are sometimes subjected, domestic violence and various forms of enslavement which, rather than a show of masculine power, are craven acts of cowardice. The verbal, physical, and sexual violence that women endure in some marriages contradicts the very nature of the conjugal union.”

He also insisted upon the need for parishes and priests to be ready to deal properly with these problems: “Good pastoral training is important ‘especially in light of particular emergency situations arising from cases of domestic violence and sexual abuse’,” he added, citing the final document from the 2015 Synod on the Family.

Catholics have responded to this dire need in various ways, from organizing a prayer campaign for domestic abuse victims to working to spread awareness of the problem and educate clergy on how to properly deal with instances of abuse.

A symposium on domestic abuse took place last year at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., hosted by the university’s School of Social Service.

“toolkit” for fighting domestic abuse has been provided by the Catholics for Family Peace, Education, and Research Initiative, which includes prayers and directions for helping a victim of domestic abuse.

In recent years, the group has marked Domestic Violence Awareness Month by asking people to pray at 3 p.m. daily for domestic abuse victims, and has called for a day of prayer on Oct. 28, the feast of St. Jude the Apostle, the patron saint of hopeless cases.

Fr. Chuck Dahm has created a parish-based ministry to combat domestic violence. A key part of his work is simply preaching about it, he says, because it is a widespread problem that hides in plain sight.

There is an “overwhelming lack of recognition that the problem is more frequent, more common than people think,” he told CNA. Many priests are completely unaware of cases of it, Fr. Chuck noted, although “there are people in their parishes who are suffering.”

“I have gone to 90 parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago,” he said. “And after I preach about it, people walk out of the church and they tell me ‘thank you for talking about this. This is long overdue. And my sister, my daughter is in it, or I grew up in it.’ And this is so much more common than anybody realizes.”

Sometimes, Fr. Chuck said, priests are not well trained and do not know how to handle situations in which parishioners come to tell them about abuse. They may offer inadequate advice and solutions.

Fr. Chuck participated in the symposium on domestic abuse at Catholic University last year. Since then he’s seen the fruits of the conference, spreading awareness of the problem.

“A significant number went home with the plans of doing something in their diocese or their respective organizations,” he said of conference participants.

The Archdiocese of Washington held a workshop for priests to learn how to deal with incidents of domestic abuse and 31 priests attended, he said. Two representatives of Catholic Charities in Vermont are starting a workshop for priests there, and the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City held a workshop attended by several priests and a meeting for priests with Fr. Chuck.

Still, sometimes priests do not attend these events, Fr. Chuck acknowledged, and raising awareness about the importance of the problem is key.

Unfortunately, it’s been negative incidents that have driven the conversation about domestic abuse, he said. For instance, when surveillance videos surfaced of former NFL running back Ray Rice punching his fiancée, and then dragging her off an elevator while she was unconscious, the “subsequent outrage” after that and other incidents like it “helps create more awareness about the problem.”

Then “people feel a little bit more comfortable and required to speak out about this and do something about it,” Fr. Chuck explained. “The publicity about negative events or harmful events is quite helpful in raising awareness.”

“We’re really behind on this,” he said of the Church’s efforts to combat the problem, but at the same time, “we’re making progress.”


An earlier version of this article originally ran on CNA Oct. 24, 2016.

 https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/domestic-abuse-the-epidemic-no-one-is-talking-about-in-parishes-88320?utm_source=CNA&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter

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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best efforts as human beings to make sense of our lives in general - and of our human sexuality in particular - and to also include the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium; given that the Church has been accumulating the wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7     G.S.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2006-2023 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2023 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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Saturday, September 3, 2016

Abortion linked to mental health problems down the road, study finds

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There are facts and truths that "sexual libertarians" don't want society or public opinion to know, that even they don't want to know. To sum up those facts - accumulated in different human cultures and societies - we don't need sex to live a full life and be content. To define one's identity on the basis of our sexuality alone is to reduce our human value and dignity. I am a lot more than just my genitalia, and so are you. G.S.

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best human efforts to make sense of our lives - and of our human sexuality in particular - also including the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium. The Church has been accumulating much valuable wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7 
Father Gilles Surprenant, priest & poustinik

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In considering abortion as an option, or else before or after trying to understand what might be consequences of having an abortion, it is good to remember that LOVE UNLEASHES LIFE.

Courtroom genetics testimony of Dr. Jerome Lejeune on the wonder of human conception in the Circuit Court for Blount County State of tennessee at Maryville, Tennessee on August 10th, 1989. 

Abortion linked to mental health problems down the road, study finds Washington D.C., Sep 3, 2016

Credit: TRIG via Shutterstock.

Abortion during the late teen and early adult years raises a woman’s risk of mental health problems and may be linked to almost one in ten cases of these women’s mental disorders, a new study says.

“Evidence from the United States confirms previous findings from Norway and New Zealand that, unlike other pregnancy outcomes, abortion is consistently associated with a moderate increase in risk of mental health disorders during late adolescence and early adulthood,” said the study’s abstract.

The study, conducted by sociology professor Donald Paul Sullins of The Catholic University of America, was published July 22, 2016 in the peer-reviewed Sage Open Medicine journal.

After adjusting for demographic differences and other factors, the study found that abortion during these years elevated a woman’s risk of mental health disorder by 45 percent.

“One-eleventh of the prevalence of mental disorders examined over the period were attributable to abortion,” the study’s abstract said.

The study sought to examine any links between pregnancy outcomes like birth, abortion or miscarriage and mental health outcomes for U.S. women during the transition to adulthood. It drew on a national study of 8,005 women that surveyed them three times at average ages of 15, 22 and 28.

Involuntary pregnancy loss was associated with a 24 percent elevated risk of mental disorder, while childbirth was “weakly associated” with reduced risk of mental disorder.

Students for Life of America said the study showed the need for better data about the risks of abortion.

“Abortion activists have repeatedly denounced attempts to link abortion with any adverse events,” the group said Aug. 23. “In medical schools across the country, students are taught that there are no long-term consequences of abortion, and that abortion is a safe procedure. However, these statements are misleading at best.”

Students for Life said that each state sets its own reporting laws. States like California do not require any reporting of abortion statistics. Reported statistics may be unreliable, given that pro-abortion research organizations like the Guttmacher Institute consistently report abortion rates as much as 30 percent higher than Centers for Disease Control reports.

Only 16 states require reporting on abortion complications, and only eight publish abortion complications in their public abortion reports. Four states inquire about maternal mortality after abortion, while only one state asks about follow-up care to women who have had abortions.

 https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/abortion-linked-to-mental-health-problems-down-the-road-study-finds-44010?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email

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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best efforts as human beings to make sense of our lives in general - and of our human sexuality in particular - and to also include the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium; given that the Church has been accumulating the wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7     G.S.

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© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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Thursday, June 30, 2016

Abstinence Education Works, Condoms Don’t: New Teen Pregnancy Data

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There are facts and truths that "sexual libertarians" don't want society or public opinion to know, that even they don't want to know. To sum up those facts - accumulated in different human cultures and societies - we don't need sex to live a full life and be content. To define one's identity on the basis of our sexuality alone is to reduce our human value and dignity. I am a lot more than just my genitalia, and so are you. G.S.

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best human efforts to make sense of our lives - and of our human sexuality in particular - also including the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium. The Church has been accumulating much valuable wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7 
Father Gilles Surprenant, priest & poustinik

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Abstinence Education Works,Condoms Don’t: New Teen Pregnancy Data   By Rebecca Oas, Ph.D | June 30, 2016


NEW YORK, July 1 (C-Fam) New evidence from the United States suggests abstinence education is a reason why teen pregnancy has fallen to historically low rates. Nearly sixty percent of high school students had never had sex, up from 46% in 1991.  Meanwhile, another new report links condom giveaways in schools with increases in teen pregnancy.

This investigation of the impact of the condom distribution programs was published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)—more than twenty years after the fact.  It found higher pregnancy rates when students were given condoms in the absence of counseling, which would explain that abstinence is the surest method of protection, along with information about the failure rates of condoms.

The authors write that their findings “suggest that risky sexual behavior may have increased in areas without counseling programs,” while noting that there is “essentially unanimity in the absence of support” within the academic literature for the hypothesis that handing out condoms encourages such behavior. Nonetheless, the fact that this study was performed so belatedly despite the data being available for a quarter century raises sobering questions about further questions that remain unanswered—and unasked—by the experts.

On a more hopeful note, the NBER paper points out that “teenagers today are less likely to engage in sexual activity and are less likely to become pregnant,” echoing the latest data on risky behavior among teens from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

According to the American College of Pediatricians, the key message for teens is that abstinence is not only beneficial, but also an attainable goal.  Meanwhile, the consequences for sexually active teenagers can be dire: “sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are on the rise, as is adolescent depression, sometimes referred to as the emotional STI.”

These problems are not limited to the United States. Globally, the cost of risky sexual behavior among adolescents is enormous: The Lancet recently published a study of the disease burden among youth internationally, and found that “unsafe sex” is the fastest-growing risk factor among 15-24-year-olds.

Both within the U.S. and internationally, political debates continue over how adolescents should be taught about sex.  Proponents of controversial “comprehensive sexuality education” curricula frequently claim their approach is “evidence-based” rather than being ideological, and that abstinence education is ineffective.  But according to Valerie Huber, president of a U.S.-based organization promoting abstinence, or sexual risk avoidance, this is a “worn-out, disingenuous mantra” based on a selective reading of the “evidence.”

“[I]n this case, ‘science’ has become the pawn of a larger agenda,” writes Huber, describing how the U.S. government used flawed methodology to compile a list of “effective” sex education programs, most of which did not emphasize abstinence.

“Research confirms that [sexual risk avoidance] is a realistic approach to sex education and it offers the healthiest outcomes for youth,” writes Huber, citing the CDC’s findings that teen abstinence continues to rise steadily.

The message that sexual risk avoidance is both realistic and effective was absent from the Lancet Commission on adolescent health and wellbeing, which mentioned abstinence only to say “abstinence-only education is not recommended.”  The Commission, which makes policy recommendations to global leaders, also bluntly calls on them to legalize abortion.

https://c-fam.org/friday_fax/abstinence-education-works-condoms-dont-new-teen-pregnancy-data/

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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best efforts as human beings to make sense of our lives in general - and of our human sexuality in particular - and to also include the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium; given that the Church has been accumulating the wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7     G.S.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2006-2023 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2023 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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Sunday, May 15, 2016

Reducing Sexual violence in schools - Written submission from the Family Education Trust

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There are facts and truths that "sexual libertarians" don't want society or public opinion to know, that even they don't want to know. To sum up those facts - accumulated in different human cultures and societies - we don't need sex to live a full life and be content. To define one's identity on the basis of our sexuality alone is to reduce our human value and dignity. I am a lot more than just my genitalia, and so are you. G.S.

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best human efforts to make sense of our lives - and of our human sexuality in particular - also including the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium. The Church has been accumulating much valuable wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7 
Father Gilles Surprenant, priest & poustinik

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Written submission from the Family Education Trust (
SVS0051)

Executive summary

·              The problem of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools is primarily an issue to be addressed individually at the local level. Parental involvement and engagement is crucial.

·              A study of the culture, ethos, curriculum and teaching practice of schools where there is little or no sexual harassment and sexual violence may help to highlight features which can contribute to a reduction of their occurrence in schools where they are more prevalent.

·              Governing bodies should seek to establish a counter-cultural school ethos in which sexual intimacy is considered and referred to with modesty, respect and restraint.

·              Schools should review their policies surrounding the confidential provision of contraception and sexual health advice.

·              There is no evidence to support the contention that statutory sex and relationships education (SRE) would reduce levels of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools. Local governing bodies should continue to formulate their SRE policies in consultation with parents and schools should remain accountable to parents.

·              The ‘supplementary advice’ document, Sex and relationships education (SRE) for the 21st century, does not provide a safe and reliable guide for schools to follow, and the Brook Traffic Light tool communicates messages that make it unsuitable as a safeguarding resource.

·              Parents have a vital role to play in monitoring their children’s use of the internet and social media. Schools should therefore take care to involve parents in the development of policies and strategies aimed at reducing levels of sexual harassment and sexual violence.

·              In view of the harmful effects of pornography, schools should not take a non-judgmental and non-directional approach. Rather they should use resources which explain the dangers of pornography, offer practical advice on how to avoid it, and urge young people to seek help if it has already become a problem to them.

1. Introduction

1.1              Family Education Trust is an independent research charity dedicated to researching the causes and consequences of family breakdown and promoting family stability and the welfare of children and young people. The Trust also publishes educational material for use in Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) and sex and relationships education (SRE) classes in schools and other contexts.

Reducing levels of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools

2. Can schools tackle this problem individually or is national action needed to reduce levels of harassment?

2.1              The problem of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools is primarily an issue to be addressed individually at the local level. Parental involvement and engagement is crucial.

2.2              Headteachers and governing bodies must face up to the reality of sexual harassment and sexual violence where it is present in a school and resist the temptation to conceal or deny its occurrence. The problem needs to be honestly acknowledged in the local setting before it can be addressed.

2.3              It is important for the school to identify the perpetrators of sexual harassment and sexual violence and involve their parents in seeking to address the problem and prevent its recurrence. The school should also discuss with the parents of victims what additional support their children may require and explain what action is being taken to resolve the issue.

2.4              Where sexting is widespread and instances of sexual harassment and violence are not limited to isolated incidents, the school should communicate the nature and scale of the problem to all parents and seek their support to address and eliminate it. The harmful consequences of sexual harassment and violence should be spelled out, together with the steps that the school will take if any instances come to its attention.

2.5              Consideration should be given to the possibility that a relaxed attitude towards the provision of contraception to young people under the age of consent may be communicating the message that sexual experimentation is condoned and even expected. In turn, this could embolden young men in particular to put pressure on girls to engage in sexual activity. In many cases there may be a fine line between such pressure and sexual harassment.

 

2.6              Professor David Paton of Nottingham University Business School has found that: ‘Easier access to family planning reduces the effective cost of sexual activity and will make it more likely (at least for some teenagers) that they will engage in underage sexual activity.’[1]

 

2.7              Schools should review their policies surrounding the confidential provision of contraception and sexual health advice in view of these considerations and in the light of the findings of serious case reviews in Rochdale, Rotherham and Oxfordshire. These reviews revealed instances where authorities failed to act in order to protect young teenage girls from child sexual exploitation because they regarded underage sex a normal ‘lifestyle choice’ and because the ‘right of the child to confidentiality’ was being put before the need of the child for protection.

3. What role can other stakeholders, including teacher training providers, teaching unions, governors and parents, play in tackling this problem?

3.1              Governing bodies should seek to establish a counter-cultural school ethos in which sexual intimacy is considered and referred to with modesty, respect and restraint. School sex and relationships education policies should ensure that the accent is placed on sexual activity as an expression of love, which involves commitment and faithfulness.

3.2              An approach to sex education that places an emphasis on sexual pleasure and ‘informed choices’ is unlikely to discourage and reduce the incidence of sexual harassment and sexual violence. The focus needs to be turned away from self-gratification to self-giving in the context of a lifelong marriage.

3.3              The role of parents is key. Young people who are raised by parents who model mutual love and respect and who refer to sex only with modesty and restraint, are far less likely to become perpetrators of sexual harassment or sexual violence.

4. What action would be most effective in reducing levels of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools?

4.1              There is no quick-fix solution to the problem of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools. There are deep-seated cultural and social factors contributing to the present malaise which cannot be resolved overnight.

4.2              That said, it is important not to get the problem entirely out of proportion. Sexual harassment and sexual violence do not feature in all schools, and where they are present they do not occur in every school to the same extent. A study of the culture, ethos, curriculum and teaching practice of schools where there is little or no sexual harassment and sexual violence may help to highlight features which can contribute to a reduction of their occurrence in schools where they are more prevalent.

4.3              Young people have always had a natural curiosity about sexual matters, but this is now being fed to an unprecedented extent by sexualised messages and images via the media, the internet and some types of sex education. Parents have an important role to play in supervising and monitoring the exposure of their children to the media, their access to the internet, their engagement in social networking and their use of mobile phones.

4.4              We are conscious that advocates of statutory PSHE/SRE will be using this inquiry as a vehicle to advance their case. However, the evidence in support of the claims made for statutory PSHE/SRE is in short supply. Surprisingly little research has been conducted to evaluate the success of sex education programmes. An external steering group established by the last Labour government noted that: ‘[T]here is a dearth of good quality international evidence on SRE. A literature review of the international evidence that does exist confirms that it is difficult to be precise about the impact of SRE, for a number of reasons...’[2]

 

4.5              An examination of one ‘enhanced sex education programme’, for example, found that while the programme increased young people’s knowledge it had no discernable effect on sexual activity.[3] The lead researcher, Dr Marion Henderson commented, ‘It may be that we have already seen the limits of what sex education can achieve and we need to look wider at parenting and the culture in which children grow up.’

4.6              Professor Lawrie Elliott from Edinburgh Napier University undertook a review of evaluations of a number of sex education initiatives and found that they had little or no positive impact on the sexual behaviour of young people. He concluded that we may have reached a threshold in what can be achieved by population based interventions and commented: ‘Our findings challenge the conventional wisdom that traditional public health methods such as education in schools linked to sexual health clinics are able to affect the sexual health of the neediest in society.’[4]

4.7              There is evidence that, far from being the solution to sexual harassment and sexual violence, some kinds of sex and relationships education can exacerbate the problem. In spite of the fact that education law aims to protect children from inappropriate teaching and materials, Family Education Trust is frequently contacted by parents who are deeply concerned about their children being introduced to sexual themes at school in an inappropriate way and at an inappropriate stage in their development.

 

4.8              For example, several parents have reported instances where primary school pupils have simulated sex after viewing cartoon depictions of intercourse in the Channel 4 resource, Living and Growing, which is used widely in primary school sex education lessons. One parent wrote:

[T]he effects of what our children had been taught [soon] became alarmingly apparent. Children were found simulating sex on top of other children and some children were telling much younger children what they had learned, much to the horror of their parents. Still others were openly stating to parents that they now wanted to have sex.

 

Some children, including my daughter, became very upset and worried about the whole matter. She was not emotionally or mentally able to cope with this information…

 

I [finally] managed to find out what DVD the school had used and I and other parents watched it on the Internet in horror. It was so graphic and the narrative was appalling. It promoted sex as a wonderful feeling and exciting - no wonder some of the children now wanted to try it![5]

4.9              Most of the components of PSHE are the primary responsibility of parents; for example, nutrition and physical activity, drugs, alcohol and tobacco education, sex and relationships education, emotional health and well-being, safety, and personal finance.

4.10              The more that schools take to themselves responsibility for these areas, the less parents will be inclined to view them as their responsibility. If PSHE were to become a statutory part of the curriculum, there would be a very real danger that parents would no more consider themselves responsible for these aspects of their children’s physical, emotional and social development than they typically regard themselves as responsible for the teaching of English, maths, history and science.

4.11              In the wake of the 2011 riots, the Prime Minister called for parents to take more responsibility for their children and not to leave everything to schools. He lamented the ‘decline in responsibility’ in society and, stressing the need to instil in children and young people ‘the decency, discipline and sense of duty that make good citizens’, noted that, ‘The first place people learn these values is in the home.’ If the government is serious about encouraging parents to take more, and not less, responsibility for their children, the state, through its schools and other agencies, needs to take care not to undermine them by assuming a parental role.

4.12              In view of the particular sensitivities aroused by SRE in both primary and secondary schools, it is important that schools should be required to consult with parents and be sensitive to parental wishes and concerns. It is also vital that parents should retain the right to withdraw their children from sex education lessons for as long as they bear the legal responsibility for their children’s education. This legal right is in line with the fundamental principle of education law that pupils should be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents,[6] and that due respect should be paid to the religious and philosophical convictions of parents.[7]

4.13              Given the absence of any evidence that children who are withdrawn from sex education lessons are more likely to engage in sexual harassment and sexual violence or placed at greater risk of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, there is no compelling reason to remove or limit the parental right of withdrawal.

4.14              Sex education policies and decisions about the delivery of SRE, including the choice of materials, should not be determined centrally, but decided at the local level in consultation with parents. However, if PSHE/SRE were to be made a statutory subject, it would inevitably result in a degree of central prescription and reduce the accountability of schools to parents.

 

4.15              The ‘supplementary advice’ document, Sex and relationships education (SRE) for the 21st century, published by Brook, in association with the Sex Education Forum and the PSHE Association, was ostensibly prepared to equip teachers to help protect children and young people from inappropriate online content, and from online bullying, harassment and exploitation. However, it represents the perspective of organisations advocating a highly controversial approach to sex education and does not provide a safe and reliable guide for schools to follow.

 

4.16              The ‘supplementary advice’ refers to treating sex as ‘a normal and pleasurable fact of life’, but it has nothing to say about the moral and family context in which sex is to be enjoyed. There is not even a reference to the need for fidelity and exclusivity. It is therefore not a suitable tool to be used in an effort to reduce levels of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools.

 

4.17              The Brook Traffic Light Tool is listed as a ‘useful resource’ in the ‘supplementary advice’. Described as a ‘safeguarding tool’, it states that sex involving 13-17 year-olds should be viewed in a favourable light, provided it is consensual and ‘between children or young people of similar age or developmental ability’. The green light is accordingly given to:

consenting oral and/or penetrative sex with others of the same or opposite gender who are of similar age and developmental ability.[8]

Such behaviour is deemed ‘reflective of natural curiosity, experimentation, consensual activities and positive choices’. Brook adds: ‘Green behaviours provide opportunities to give positive feedback and additional information.’

4.18              However, given the findings of the serious case reviews referred to above, it is irresponsible, dangerous and an abdication of adult responsibility for teachers, health professionals and others to treat sexual activity among 13-15 year-olds as healthy, safe and normal, and to offer ‘positive feedback’. If we are serious about protecting young people from sexual harassment, violence, exploitation and abuse, SRE lessons must uphold the age of consent law and not undermine it by promoting contraception to underage young people or by condoning or encouraging underage sex in any other way.

 

4.19              The Department for Education and the Department of Health should ensure that any advice and guidance they provide in relation to adolescent sex places a strong emphasis on the age of consent and in no way communicates the message that sex under 16 is a legitimate choice for young teenagers to make.

4.20              In the light of recent serious case reviews, the Department for Education and the Department of Health should review the impact of sex education programmes and ‘safeguarding tools’ such as the Brook Traffic Light tool upon professional attitudes towards underage sexual activity and child protection interventions.

What schools can do to support students to deal better with the online elements of this problem

5. What can schools do better to support their students to deal with sexual harassment and sexual violence online?

5.1              Schools should ensure that filters are in place on all computers in order to prevent the exposure of pupils to sexual harassment and sexual violence online while they are on school premises. However, the role of schools is limited, since many use iPhones and/or have access to the internet at home and at other locations outside the school environment.

5.2              The role of parents is therefore key in monitoring their children’s use of the internet and social media. Schools should therefore take care that they involve and engage parents in the development of policies and strategies aimed at reducing levels of sexual harassment and sexual violence.

6. What impact is pornography having on levels of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools?

6.1              Pornography encourages the viewer to view and, by extension, to treat people as though they were objects. A major study of the effects of pornography on adults and children found that: 

 

Two-thirds of the males and 40 per cent of the females reported wanting to try out some of the sexual behaviours they had witnessed… And, among high school students, 31 per cent of the males and 18 per cent of the females admitted actually doing some of the things sexually they had seen in the pornography within a few days after exposure.[9]

6.2              Studies of the effects of pornography from outside the English speaking world show similar results. A study of Dutch teenagers found frequent exposure to internet pornography led to a greater desire to engage in casual sexual experimentation.[10]  A study of Italian teenagers found a significant correlation between pornography use and sexual violence. Girls who watched pornography were more likely to be victims of sexual harassment or assault, while boys who watched it were more likely to be perpetrators.[11]

7. What can be done by schools and other stakeholders to tackle the impact of pornography?

7.1              In view of the harmful effects of pornography, it would be irresponsible to present pornography as a topic for class discussion, devoid of any moral framework or direction. For some pupils it would run the very real danger of arousing a curiosity to searchout more pornography for themselves, and for others it might very well introduce the idea for the first time.[12]

7.2              Schools should therefore be discouraged from following the advice of the Sex Education Forum, which suggests that pornography is not ‘all bad’ and that young people need help in ‘interpreting’ it.[13] The ‘supplementary advice’ produced by the Sex Education Forum, the PSHE Association and Brook, referred to above, similarly takes a non-judgmental and non-directional view and does not provide a safe guide.

7.3              By way of contrast, the Lovewise resource Pornography: dangers and decisions aimed at pupils in Years 9-11 is marked by modesty and restraint. It clearly explains the dangers of pornography, offers practical advice on how to avoid it, and urges young people to seek help if it has already become a problem to them. Pupils are encouraged to think carefully about what they watch and read, to turn on ‘safe search’, to use a filter, to avoid using the internet alone and to be careful about what others show them. While care will always need to be taken in subjecting a sensitive issue such as pornography to classroom discussion, used with discretion by a wise teacher, this resource offers a valuable guide.[14]

May 2016


[1] David Paton, ‘Underage conceptions and abortions in England and Wales 1969-2009: the role of public policy’, Education and Health, 2012, Vol. 30 No. 2.

[2] Review of Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) in Schools: A report by the External

Steering Group, October 2008, para 22. See also T Stammers, ‘Sexual health in adolescents: “Saved sex” and parental involvement are key to improving outcomes’, BMJ, 2007, 334:103-4.

[3] M Henderson, ‘Impact of a theoretically based sex education programme (SHARE) delivered by teachers on NHS registered conceptions and terminations: final results of cluster randomised trial’, BMJ, 2007, 334:133.

[4] Edinburgh Napier University press release, 14 September 2010.

[5] Lisa Bullivant, Family Education Trust Bulletin, Issue 140, Summer 2010.

[6] Education Act 1996, s9.

[7] European Convention on Human Rights, First Protocol, Article 2.

[8] Brook, Sexual Behaviours Traffic Light Tool, ‘Behaviours: age 13 to 17’, http://www.brook.org.uk/old/index.php/component/brookprint/?view=printready&task=display&id=482&format=brookprint

[9] Bryant Jennings, ‘Frequency of Exposure, Age of Initial Exposure and Reactions to Initial Exposure to

Pornography’, cited by Victor B. Cline, Pornography’s Effects on Adults and Childrenhttp://stop.org.za/Victor%20Cline's%20Study.pdf

[10] Jochen Peter and Patti M. Valkenburg, ‘Adolescents Exposure to Sexually Explicit Material on the Internet’, Communication Research, Volume 33 Number 2

April 2006 178-204http://users.ugent.be/~wbeyers/scripties2011/artikels/PeterCR2006.pdf

[11] Silvio Bonino et al, ‘Use of pornography and self-reported engagement in sexual violence among adolescents’, European Journal Of Developmental Psychology 2006, 00(0), 1 – 24

[12] See Norman Wells, ‘Sex education: is “Planet porn” really appropriate?’ Daily Telegraph, 11 March 2014. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10689770/Sex-education-is-Planet-Porn-really-appropriate.html

[13] Sex Education Forum, Sex Educational Supplement, Issue 1, April 2013.

[14] Available from Lovewise - http://lovewise.org.uk/

 http://data.parliament.uk/WrittenEvidence/CommitteeEvidence.svc/EvidenceDocument/Women%20and%20Equalities/Sexual%20harassment%20and%20sexual%20violence%20in%20schools/written/33511.html

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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best efforts as human beings to make sense of our lives in general - and of our human sexuality in particular - and to also include the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium; given that the Church has been accumulating the wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7     G.S.

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© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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"I worry that my husband may leave me." OR "I am troubled that my wife no longer loves me." What light is there to dispell our darkness from the Wisdom of God revealed in his Eternal Word?

  ---------------------------------------------------------------- There are facts and truths that "sexual libertarians" don't...