Sex and drinking – young peoples experiences
The British Youth Council have produced a report reflecting on what young people have told them about their use of alcohol and how it relates to their sex lives.
They had responses from over a thousand young people, 48%, being those aged between 16 and 18, and a further 15% aged 13-15. The majority (62%) were female. The majority (78%) of the respondents identified as heterosexual, but a minority said they were either gay (9%) or bisexual (10%).
Here are a few of the points I picked out:
- The majority of respondents (60%) did not know or are unsure of the Government’s daily guidelines for safe drinking for adults.
- 59% of respondents have had sexual intercourse and of these 48% stated that they have later regretted it, and half of these had been drinking beforehand.
- Nearly one in three said that the first time they had sex they had been drinking.
I notice that 18% of respondents said they never drink compared to 2.3% who said they drank every day.
The report quotes one of the respondents saying:
Better information in schools about what is a unit and how many units are recommended would help (Female, 16-18).
Another quote that caught the eye focused on what the respondent saw as the value and purpose of alcohol education:
I don't believe that education about drinking would alter the amount of young people drinking or the amount they drink, because experimenting with alcohol and waking up with a shocking hangover is part of growing up and realising how much you can handle. If we are taught it is bad and wrong, it will make us want to find out what the big deal about it is. (Female, 13-15).
However, another respondent had a slightly different view:
It’s important to see both the positive and the negative aspects of drinking – not demonise it as this had the same effect as telling a child “not to push the red button. (Male, 16-18).
The report has interesting things to say about young people's desire to see and discuss sex and relationships issues in the context of how drugs and alcohol can affect those relationships:
There should be so much more information on relationships and the effects that drugs and alcohol has on relationships i.e. Pregnancy, being dumped after sex, regret, memory loss, s.t.d.s… there isn’t enough signposting for young people to information. (Female, 19-21).
The report suggests that young people have different sources of information about this subject:
Young people answering the survey got their advice and guidance on alcohol from their parents and information on sexual health and their bodies from their teachers. Yet it was their friends that they turned to when talking about sex and relationships.
Download the whole report here.
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About this blog
This blog tries to pick up relevant media and research stories about drug education. It mainly focuses on information in England as this is the geographical remit for the Drug Education Forum. We welcome comments that are on topic.Categories
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