By Rosetta Donnelly
r.donnelly@tyroneherald.com
YOUNG people and their parents at the Living Room in Omagh had a no holds barred talk about sex, drugs and living in the 21st century.
The talk last Thursday was aimed principally at parents but it ened up with the teenagers playing a key role in the discussion.
The main speaker was Dickie Barr from Love for Life and he explored the perceptions of young people and the media portrayal of them.
He put parents on the spot about how they dealt with crucial areas in raising teenagers, if they give into the 12 year old wanting to go to a disco in a short skirt, how they answered their children questions about "where babies come from".
He also provided facts and figures on sexually transmitted diseases about the increase in them. He talked openly about sex and spelt out some facts about condoms and how they are not entirely safe when it comes to STDs and becoming pregnant.
He also touched on acceptance by peers and the difficulties it provides for young people. He said image is a hugely important thing for boys and girls and magazines and television constantly reinforces the message that you need to be beautiful. "Who says you need to be beautiful?" he asked.
He slammed the talk about size zero and said that models who succumbed to this pressure and ended up being painfully thin infuenced young local people.
He urged parents not to always give into children just beause you don't want to antagonise them. "We always hear now about a parent saying she wants to be the child's best friend. Teenagers have their best friends, they don't need you as one".
He said children need some rules in their lifes and they need to know there are constraints. "Children who do have constraints actually feel cared about", said Dickie.
Love for Life is a project that supports young people and their carers in the area of relationships and sexuality education.
The vision of the Craigavon based group is to influence change within society so that young people have a healthy respect for themselves, relationships and sex.
