Did anyone see the emotive headline in the Daily Mail or Mail on Sunday ‘School arranges morning-after pills for girls of 14 after end-of-term party descends into drunken orgy’?
I was quite shocked by the coverage of this story. You can access the news item at : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=541149&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490
In summary, the news piece was based upon the alleged outcomes of an organised party held at the village institute in Wray, on the edge of the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, by Year 11 pupils from Queen Elizabeth School in nearby Kirkby Lonsdale. It would seem from the Mail’s coverage that these young people were unsupervised, drinking heavily and having unprotected sex ….to quote the article ‘during the unsupervised party the hall was badly damaged and nearby residents were horrified when the revelers spilled out into the street, among them a boy stripped to his boxer shorts and scantily-clad girls. It went so far out of control that the school has taken the dramatic step of writing to all parents graphically describing what went on’.
It goes on to say that ‘After complaints from villagers, the comprehensive's deputy head, Alison Hughes, wrote to parents in stark terms. Along with "significant and harmful quantities" of drink, the children had also taken illegal drugs. Mrs Hughes added that underage sex among the partygoers - aged between 14 and 16 - had been widespread and warned that some of them may be at risk of pregnancy or sexually-transmitted diseases. She said most of the girls who had unprotected sex "were too drunk to be in control of themselves. The risks are real. Assume the worst." The girls were referred for sexual health care. '
There are many issues within this story worthy of comment and debate such as the obvious ones alcohol, drugs and sex. Lets be honest here access and participation in all of these activities has taken place for many decades, amongst teenagers and young people (and beyond).
A few questions I have are: How could such an event be booked and planned based on a few forged signatures? What role did the parents play? Were the police called? Who funded this event? Where did the young people get their money from?
The comments section of the Mail’s piece is quite illuminating, the general theme and tone being moralistic and disapproving of the whole event. Do these people choose to forget their own youth? Are they viewing our youth harshly? I think that quite possibly this story has been blown out of all proportion and that other facts have not been disclosed by the newspaper.
It seems to me that it is the habit of newspapers to seek to denigrate our youth culture and report events in alarmist and negative ways. What do you think? For example do you think that the deputy head teacher was right to share her concerns with parents? And to suggest ways to protect young women from the harmful effects of unprotected sex?
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