SPCS

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY STANDARDS INC.

Sexual advice for teens [from NZFPA, NZAF and Rainbow Youth] “seriously flawed” – Expert opinion

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Monday June 17, 2013 Source: ONE News. Resources [from the New Zealand Family Planning Association Inc., the New Zealand AIDS Foundation and Rainbow Youth Inc. – all are registered charities], to advise young people on sexual health in New Zealand are seriously flawed and skip over critical information, a campaign group claims.

Family First [NZ] has commissioned US psychiatrist Dr Miriam Grossman to review several websites and other resources aimed at advising sexually active young people.

Grossman, who describes herself as a sexual health “activist” on her website, says the resources fail to give thorough information and “students are left misinformed, and with a false sense of security”.

She examined several websites recommended to young people including curious.org.nz, getiton.org.nz, theword.org.nz, sexnrespect.co.nz, iwannaknow.org and attitude.org.nz.

“While most of these resources claim to promote sexual health, we find, overall, little encouragement of restraint or self-discipline. Instead, students are informed that at any age, sexual freedom is a ‘right’,” Grossman said.

For full story see:

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/sexual-advice-teens-seriously-flawed-expert-5466779

Note:

The New Zealand Family Planning Association Inc. (Reg, No. CC11104), Rainbow Youth Inc, (Reg. No. CC24284) and the New Zealand AIDS Foundation (Reg. No. CC22230) are all registered charities involving in advocacy. Rainbow Youth runs the website www.curious.org.nz and www.rainbowyouth.org.nz The NZFPA runs the website www.theword.org.nz and promotes material from www.iwannaknow.org NZAF (Reg. No. CC22230) runs the websites www.getiton.org.nz and www.nzaf.org.nz and is the registrant for the domain name curious.org.nz (administered by Rainbow Youth

Sex Education Preaches Sexual Licence, Not Sexual Health says Family First NZ

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A Media Release issued today by Family First NZ, a registered charity focused on the advancement of education, states:

A review of sex education resources recommended to adolescents in NZ has found that they are seriously flawed with both sins of commission and sins of omission, and that critical life and death information is distorted or ignored.

The Report “R18: Sexuality Education in New Zealand – A Critical Review<http://familyfirst.org.nz/research/r18-sex-ed/>” by US psychiatrist Dr Miriam Grossman demands that groups such as Family Planning Association and Rainbow Youth be held accountable, and that students be provided with the information and guidance they need. The report has been sent to all school principals and all Board of Trustee Chairpersons of Intermediate and Secondary schools in NZ.

Dr Grossman says that the resources fail to tell the full facts and compromise the concerns and wishes of parents, and the safety of young people.

“A premise of modern sex education is that young people have the right to make their own decisions about sexual activity, and no judging is allowed. Risky behaviours are normalised and even celebrated. Children and adolescents are introduced to sexual activities their parents would prefer they not even know about, let alone practice. It’s reasonable to ask: is the ‘comprehensive sexuality education’ foisted on young people all over the world about sexual health, or sexual licence?” says Dr Grossman.

The report provides an analysis of the sex education resources recommended to adolescents in New Zealand: curious.org.nz, getiton.org.nz, theword.org.nz, sexnrespect.co.nz, iwannaknow.org, attitude.org.nz and other Family Planning resources.

“While most of these resources claim to promote sexual health, we find, overall, little encouragement of restraint or self-discipline. Instead, students are informed that at any age, sexual freedom is a ‘right’,” warns Dr Grossman.

“The information is not accurate, comprehensive, or up-to-date. Sex is seen as risky only when it’s ‘unprotected’. The efficacy of condoms is overstated, in some cases vastly so. The quantitative data about their use is absent. The vulnerability of the immature cervix and the hazards of anal intercourse are omitted. Chlamydia is incorrectly described as ‘easily cured’. Young people are

led to believe that sex is easily divorced from emotional attachment. Worst of all, critical life and death information is distorted or ignored.”

“Students are left misinformed, and with a false sense of security. Surely this is the last thing parents want.”

Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ which commissioned the report, says: “The current approach in NZ sows confusion about right and wrong and says the moral absolute is – use condoms. The government should only fund evidence-based education resources which are approved by parents, rather than pushing an agenda which is harmful and misleading to youth and inconsistent with the wishes of parents.”

“For those youth who are sexually active, they are not being told the truth. Groups like the Family Planning Association and Rainbow Youth are perpetuating the myth that as long as you use a condom, you can pretty well do what you like in terms of promiscuity, experimentation, and fringe behaviours – with little or no information on the physical or emotional ramifications or prevention of

disease.”

“Significantly, when we encouraged parents to visit the curious.org.nz website in the middle of last year, the site disappeared and resurfaced in December with much of the offending information removed.”

A nationwide poll<http://www.familyfirst.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/sex-ed-parental-notification-abortion-poll.doc>

in January 2012 of 600 young people aged 15-21 found that only 19% supported just the ‘safe sex’ message currently being taught in schools, with one in three (34%) wanting ‘values, abstinence, and consequences such as pregnancy’ taught instead, and a further 42% asking for a combination of both – especially amongst older teens.

A poll<http://www.familyfirst.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Abstinence-Final-Results-March-2010.pdf> of parents in 2010 found that three out of four parents of young children want the abstinence message taught in sex education – with 69% of kiwis overall supporting the ‘wait’ message.

In one example of a disturbing number of examples reported in the media, a mixed class of boys and girls were asked by the AIDS

Foundation<http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3553015>

if they had masturbated lately and were given condoms and strawberry-flavoured lubricant. They were also given a leaflet featuring graphic pictures, terms including “co*k” and “wa*k”, and advice on the best condoms.

Reports in 2011<http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10752723> revealed that children as young as 12 are being taught about oral sex and told it’s acceptable to play with a girl’s private parts as long as “she’s okay with it”.

In other cases, 14-year-old girls are being taught how to put condoms on plastic penises, and one female teacher imitated the noises she made during orgasm to her class of 15-year-olds.

One concerned father took his 12-year-old son out of a sex education class at his all-boy school after he came home upset about what had happened during one of the lessons. It included a question-and-answer session that focused on, “I have learned that my girlfriend has a thing called a clitoris. I really want to play with it. Is that okay?” The answer was: “Yes, if you ask her and she’s okay with it.”

“A government-funded organisation should be willing and able to defend their ideology and services which the taxpayer funds. It is time the government held them accountable,” says Mr McCoskrie.

Miriam Grossman MD is known internationally for her courage in breaking ranks and calling foul on the sexuality education industry. She has lectured at the British House of Lords and the United Nations. Dr Grossman is board certified in psychiatry and in the sub-specialty of child and adolescent psychiatry. Dr Grossman visited New Zealand last year.

[Family First NZ was registered as a charity with the Charities Commission on 21 March 2007. Its Charity Reg. No. is  CC10094. Source www.charities.govt.nz]

Parents warned about sex education and promiscuity: Family First “NZ Forum on the Family” speaks out

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Challenge Weekly Newspaper, owned by a legal entity that was incorporated in 1975 and registered with the Charities Commission as a charity on 30 June 2008, has devoted its front page to a report on the Family First NZ “Forum on the Family” held in Auckland on 28 June 2012 and attended by about 200 delegates, many from a “national network of family-focused organisations and lobby groups”.

The entity owning Challenge Weekly, Challenge Publishing Society Ltd , incorporated under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1908 on 30 January 1975; was granted charity status (Charity Reg. No. CC34094) under the second head of charity law – “advancement of education”. The Family Forum that this charity’s newspaper reported on, is run by another registered charity – Family First NZ ( Charity Reg. No. CC10094)- registered by the same Charities Commission on 21 March 2007. ( Note: The Charities Commission was deregistered on 1 July 2012 and is now part of the Department of Internal Affairs).

“Forum speaks out: Parents warned about sex education” is the bold headline on page one of Challenge Weekly (2 July 2012, P.1).

The report details findings presented by a keynote speaker Dr Miriam Grossman – “a leading whistle-blower on the dangers of political correctness in her field of child and adolescent psychiatry, [who] informed attendees that what New Zealand children are being taught in the classroom is neither medically accurate nor includes everything they need to know.”

She is reported as having said: “Sex education is a social movement which aims to change society; it’s based on ideology, not health.”

Dr Grossman believes that sexual education promotes sexual licence [PROMISCUITY & PERMISSIVENESS] rather than sexual health.

“Family Planning seems to argue that it is on the same page as parents but this simply is not true. Kids are being told that it’s up to them when they have sex and sex education introduces students to high risk behaviours. All this is coming from a world view.”

Both Dr Grossman and Family First’s national director Bob McCoskrie felt it was important to point out that Dr Grossman has challenged representatives from Family Planning [FPA] or Rainbow Youth to a debate on national radio, but has had no response.

[New Zealand Family Planning Association Inc. was registered as a charity (CC11104) with the Charities Commission on 13 September 2007. Rainbow Youth Inc. was registered as a charity (CC24284) by the Commission on 13 May 2008].

It is noteworthy that a leading medical expert has in effect advanced one of the objects of the Society for Promotion of Community Standards Inc (“SPCS”): “To focus attention on the harmful nature and consequences of SEXUAL PROMISCUITY …” It is also noteworthy that a registered charity – Family First NZ has given such prominence to this issue at its annual Family Forum event. Finally it is noteworthy that another registered charity – Challenge Publishing Society Limited has seen fit via its newspaper to give such prominence to this message.

The Society (SPCS) was registered as a charity with the Charities Commission on 17 December 2007.

References:

Challenge Weekly. July 2, 2012 Vol 70 Iss 24, P. 1.

www.companies.govt.nz

www.charities.govt.nz

www.spcs.org.nz (“Objectives” Tab)

Call from Family First NZ – A Registered Charity – For De-Funding of Sex Ed Programmes run by three charities

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MEDIA RELEASE: Family First NZ, [a registered charity – in a media release issued 1 July 2012], is calling for the government to withdraw funding of the Family Planning and Rainbow Youth’s sex education programmes, resources and websites which fail to tell the full facts and which compromise the concerns and wishes of parents, and the safety of young people. [Both the Family Planning Association and Rainbow Youth Inc. are lobby groups regularly involved in “political advocacy” and are also registered charities].

“Despite groups like Family Planning and Rainbow Youth being challenged by US psychiatrist Dr Miriam Grossman to a debate last week to defend their websites and pamphlets targeted at young people, they ran for cover. They also appeared to take down one of the offending websites during Dr Grossman’s visit,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

Family First is especially concerned about websites such as curious.org.nz, theword.org.nz, getiton.co.nz and a number of Family Planning pamphlets.

“The current approach in NZ sows confusion about right and wrong and says the moral absolute is – use condoms. The government should fund evidence-based education resources which are approved by parents rather than saying one thing to parents and another to their children. Family Planning receives more than $11m from the government of which $2.6m is for education.”

A nationwide poll in January 2012 of 600 young people aged 15-21 found that only 19% supported just the ‘safe sex’ message currently being taught in schools, with one in three (34%) wanting ‘values, abstinence, and consequences such as pregnancy’ taught instead, and a further 42% asking for a combination of both – especially amongst older teens. A poll of parents in 2010 found that three out of four parents of young children want the abstinence message taught in sex education – with 69% of kiwis overall supporting the ‘wait’ message.

“This is a direct rebuke from young people to the ‘use a condom’ and ‘everyone’s doing it’ messages being pushed by groups like Family Planning, AIDS Foundation and Rainbow Youth,” says Mr McCoskrie.

“Many parents were rightly horrified last year when details of what was being taught in schools under the guise of ‘sex education’ surfaced. Judging by the results of the current approach – which is a good place to start – sex education has been an utter failure. New Zealand has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the OECD, our STD rates are out of control, and the number of teenage girls having abortions is tragically high.”

“For those youth who are sexually active, they are not being told the truth. Groups like the Family Planning Association and the AIDS Foundation are perpetuating the myth that as long as you use a condom, you can pretty well do what you like in terms of promiscuity, experimentation, and fringe behaviours – with little or no information on the physical or emotional ramifications or prevention of disease.”

In one example, a mixed class of boys and girls were asked by the AIDS Foundation [a government funded registered charity] if they had masturbated lately and were given condoms and strawberry-flavoured lubricant. They were also given a leaflet featuring graphic pictures, terms including “co*k” and “wa*k”, and advice on the best condoms. Reports last year highlighted that children as young as 12 are being taught about oral sex and told it’s acceptable to play with a girl’s private parts as long as “she’s okay with it”. In other cases, 14-year-old girls are being taught how to put condoms on plastic penises, and one female teacher imitated the noises she made during orgasm to her class of 15-year-olds. One concerned father took his 12-year-old son out of a sex education class at his all-boy school after he came home upset about what had happened during one of the lessons. It included a question-and-answer session that focused on, “I have learned that my girlfriend has a thing called a clitoris. I really want to play with it. Is that okay?” The answer was: “Yes, if you ask her and she’s okay with it.”

“A government-funded organization should be willing and able to defend their ideology and services which the taxpayer funds. It is time the government held them accountable,” says Mr McCoskrie.

ENDS

Family First NZ website: www.familyfirst.org.nz

Does sex education belong in schools? – TV One Close Up

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Does sex education belong in schools? – TV One Close Up

On TV One’s Close Up on 25 June 2012, host presenter Mark Sainsbury talked to American psychiatrist Dr Miriam Grossman and Auckland sex education specialist, Dr Katie Fitzpatrick. Dr Grossman has been brought to New Zealand by Family First NZ, a registered charity with the Charities Commission, to speak at its Conference on Thursday 28 June, in Auckland.

Dr Grossman was highly critical of the approach taken to sex education in our schools by the New Zealand Family Planning Association Inc. (FPA), another charity and lobby group like Family First NZ, registered with the Charities Commission. She referred to FPA material which she said failed to point young people towards the “ideals”of abstinence before marriage, fidelity and faithfulness within marriage, and the true nature of marriage as a life-long loving commitment of a man and a woman – providing a secure structure in which children can be raised and nurtured in an stable, safe and supportive loving environment – one that is sanctioned by the state.

She accused FPA of (1) focusing on the mere mechanics of sex and condom use in particular, (2) failing to highlight the “ideal” goal for young people to pursue of establishing a life-long commitment to a loving relationship where sexual intimacy can be expressed as nature intended, (3) disseminating misinformation about the ‘safety’/effectiveness level of condoms as a safeguard against STI transmission, and (4) accepting as a given that sexual promiscuity is so widespread among young persons that little can be done to address the problems of unwanted pregnancies and STDs, other than handing out free condoms and informing young pregnant girls about how they can secure an abortion.

Dr Katie Fitzpatrick disagreed and vigorously defended FPA’s policies and practice, stressing that instruction in the nature of human relationships within which sexual intercourse is appropriate is in fact taught by FPA. However, the evidence cited by Grossman from FPA website and printed content, indicated that it is largely devoid of any messages encouraging teenagers to abstain from sex prior  to marriage (as an alternative to casual sex) and certainly provides few if any with reasons for doing so.

Grossman feels that FPA has failed to inform young people of the seriousness of the consequences of engaging in promiscuous casual sex. FBA material such as “Get it On” and content on its “theword” website (www.theword.org.nz) came in for attack.

The New Zealand Family Planning Association Inc. (“Family Planning”) was registered as a charity with the Charities Commission on 13 September 2007 (Reg. No. CC11104). In the financial year ended 30 June 2011 FPA received income made up of $11,362,189 (government grants/contracts), $859,746 (other grants), $2,039,486 (income from service), $2,779 (membership fees) and $11,089 (donations). Its total gross income was $15,071,008, the bulk of it sourced from NZ taxpayers.

FPA’s total expenditure for 2010/11 was $14,624,562 with $10,014,371 alone spent on salaries and wages. It employed 62 people full-time and 214 people part-time. In an average week 6500 hours of paid work was carried out, the vast bulk of it funded by the NZ taxpayer.