A chara, - The feature by Andy Pollak entitled "School for sex" (Weekend, October 17th), which dealt with the recent study by Mr Inglis of UCD, caused by eyebrows to corrugate to such a degree that I wish to make a few points about it.
The characteristics of the traditional Catholic viewpoint on sex are listed in connection with the various undesirable character traits it engendered in people, such as shyness and awkwardness. Some of this is probably true, but one of the characteristics mentioned was the "need to control extra-marital sex". Mr Inglis is quoted as emphasising that there are other Catholic views on this. While there may be other views, to my knowledge the Church has only one position on extra-marital sex - the "don't-do" position.
The brave new world of teenage sexual activity is illustrated by the results of the Durex survey of 1997. Is this not like a Guinness survey of porter-drinking? While it's obvious that today's teenagers are sexually active, agenda-driven surveys can hardly be relied on.
According to Mr Inglis, it is the view of the State that it's "no longer practical or desirable to keep young people pure and chaste". While it may not always be practical, who says it's not desirable? I certainly wasn't aware that this was the State view. This is followed up later in the article when Mr Inglis is quoted as complaining about the difficulty older teachers, priests and nuns will have in helping pupils to be "pleasure-seeking and sexually active adults" (as well of course as being morally responsible). The study, we're told, clearly takes the view that RSE, if taught in a manner consistent with the ethos of a Catholic school cannot, in many cases, be implemented in any meaningful way. Could the Minister for Education please clarify whether or not this reflects the State's position?
I'm certainly not of the head-in-the-sand brigade - there is clearly a desperate need for education in this area. In Catholic schools this obviously needs to be done within the Catholic moral framework. If the report in question is factually accurate, are Catholic parents aware of the implications? - Yours, etc.,
Paul Tobin,
Esker Park,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.