Carmel Wynne's recent article ("How casual is teenage `sex with a stranger'?", September 28th) made depressing reading. If it is true that it is neither an isolated nor rare incident for a teenager to engage in casual sex with more than one partner in an evening, then parents of many adolescent girls must be up the walls when their offspring head off on a Friday or Saturday night to socialise with their peers.
Granted, Carmel Wynne stressed that it was not her intention to "terrify the life out of parents" when she suggests that "promiscuity means engaging in casual sex with more than one partner".
However, I doubt if it is the precise meaning of the word "promiscuous" that bothers parents. It is the whole sorry business of the way healthy relationships between many maturing boys and girls have been virtually spoiled by the over-emphasis today on the importance of physical sexual activity.
Nobody wants to go back to the grim old days of sexual repression, but nowadays one would be pardoned for thinking that sexual activity is the only important fact of life. Is it any wonder that young people, who are bombarded by the advertising world and the media on the importance of looking "sexy", get the wrong end of the stick?
I agree wholeheartedly with Carmel's view that the seeds of promiscuous behaviour are sown when young people casually accept that kissing, in the absence of an affectionate relationship, is okay. Young people who congregate in woods in Dublin suburbs to drink cider, talk and enjoy a laugh are crying out for something deeper.
A relationship without affection deepens loneliness rather than alleviating it. The sexual activity "in the bushes" is a pathetic and fruitless effort to find a substitute for a warm and affectionate friendship with a member of the opposite sex.
Without denying the importance of alerting teenagers who are engaging in high-risk sexual behaviour of the potential dangers of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, I believe that other positive steps can and need to be taken to steer young people towards healthy socialisation.
I heard recently that a well known hurler, who was concerned about under-age drinking, started up a kind of club for younger teenagers. Gatherings, supervised by adults, were arranged in comfortable surroundings where soft drinks only were served.
These proved very popular and indicate that this is the kind of milieu that young people like.
No doubt it is easier in a country village or small town to procure a suitable premises for this type of function, at a reasonable cost. However, in most parishes in the cities there are halls which, with imagination and an initial outlay, could be converted into a kind of lounge with easy chairs, cheerful curtains and soft lights.
Young people would accept, I believe, low-profile supervision in these security-conscious times. A reasonable charge for admission too would not be resented. We know how much they are prepared to pay to hear a favourite pop singer.
Events such as the foregoing would require considerable time and effort on the part of the adults. However, if they were to save even one teenager from contracting an STD, wouldn't they be worth the effort?
Education & Living
Editor: Ella Shanahan Production: Harry Browne and John Moran Cover and p2 photograph: Peter Thursfield Small cover illustrations: Cathy Dineen E-mail: education@irish-times.ie
Clarification: In last week's Education and Living, it was stated that the ASTI opposes whole school evaluation (WSE). The union has participated in pilot projects now being reviewed and in the review process. The ASTI is to hold a special convention to decide on future policy on WSE.
