The Red Knob

STIs, young people, Chlamydia and teenage pregnancy – a Gordian Knot? A puzzle so complex, that it appears unsolvable? (Ancient history lesson – the Gordian Knot was an intricate, seemingly undoable knot in ancient Phyrgia; an oracle prophecised that the person who solved the puzzle of the Knot would become king of Asia. A bit ambitious – one job at a time please Zeus).

So what’s my point? The point I’m making is that when Alexander the Great came across the Gordian Knot, he examined it and solved the problem by cutting through it. “Cheat” I hear you cry. But, he solved it and moved on to fulfil his prophecy. Now I am not Alexander and nor do I wish to become king of Asia (dearth of ambition), but we do have a knotty situation with regard to work around sexual health issues and young people. We need compulsory, quality sex education in our schools – delivered by teachers – yes if possible, and by visiting specialists if not. We also need to recognise that one-size fits all approaches around participation and discussion are not the only way to deliver sex education, that some young people, especially young men prefer more private ways of learning, rather than peer group exposure – and that we need to be more creative in our approaches to SRE. It doesn’t take an Alexander to solve the problem, but cutting through the dilemmas posed by the lottery of how SRE is delivered in our schools by enshrining mandatory SRE in law would be a useful start – and an edict on inhibitive ‘nanny’ guidance too.

Let’s be creative. Every day in every way – make yours a Red Knob Day.

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