The holiday atmosphere of seaside resorts encourages the young people who live in them to adopt a risky attitude to sex all year round, writes Joy Ogden.
Sun, sand, sea… and sex. Forget the buckets and spades, for many young people a trip to the seaside means a holiday from reality and a break from the usual constraints on their sexual behaviour.
But for those young people who live by the sea or the rural areas around, the risky behaviour is not just a two week temptation but an ongoing problem, according to a new report.1
They face all the factors associated with risky sexual behaviour - such as low aspirations, low family expectations, lack of self-esteem - as people who live anywhere, but these are compounded by the impact of the pleasure-seeking lifestyle of the seaside, the report says.
Researchers from the universities of Hull, Brighton and Liverpool talked to young people aged 12 to 17, and to key professionals, young parents and transient workers in three seaside resorts and their surrounding rural areas in the east midlands, north west and south east England. They explored the factors that shaped the young people’s attitudes to, and experiences of, sexual behaviour and young parenthood.
And what they found beside the seaside was a "carnival" atmosphere, with ready access to alcohol and a steady stream of casual workers and holidaymakers that engendered a feeling of excitement and attracted young people to the area like wasps to a picnic. But the festive mood also generated a sense of distance from reality that was conducive to casual sex.
The report’s publication coincides with the latest figures for 2003 released by the Health Protection Agency last month. The agency’s figures show a 9 per cent rise in the number of chlamydia cases and an overall 4 per cent increase in diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) over the previous year. They also show marked variations across the country, which the agency attributes both to the impact of local outbreaks, for example syphilis in Manchester and London, and to the variable distribution of high-risk groups. And the figures reveal reductions in some areas that the agency says point to the importance of local initiatives to promote testing and safer sexual behaviour.
Sir William Stewart, chair of the agency, said: "It is a cause of considerable concern that we are still seeing increases in new diagnoses of STIs across the UK and unsafe sex is undoubtedly a main contributor to this."
Given the vulnerability of young people who live by the seaside to sexual and economic exploitation by the dominant tourism and entertainment industries, with their focus on sun, sea, sand and (casual) sex, the quality of advice they receive is critical, say the report’s authors.
The young interviewees were scathing about much of the help they received. One Year 10 girl (14 to 15-year-olds) said: "They don’t give you a clue about your emotions."
They often described sexual health professionals as "judgmental and stigmatising" and said they encountered hostile attitudes, particularly when asking about under-age sex and terminations. Young people were often uncertain about their rights to confidentiality, and those in rural areas faced the added problems of scarce services, poor transport and the embarrassment of asking advice from a limited pool of professionals, often known to them and their families.
Jan Barlow, chief executive of the Brook Advisory Centre, said: "We are calling for sex and relationships to be a compulsory part of the national curriculum so we know that young people are growing up better informed about sex and relationships and protecting themselves from pregnancy and infection. I think all young people need to be better informed - but the need is particularly acute for children growing up in seaside and rural areas.
She added: "There should be easily accessible specialist advice centres in rural areas - and we need to make sure the message gets out that young people have the right to confidentiality."
Mark Graver from the Terrence Higgins Trust called on the government to re-instate sexual health as a public health priority. "We need greatly improved sex education for young people. We need to reduce sexual health clinic waiting times to no more than 48 hours - that’s a government recommended target but it isn’t happening. And we need community-based easy to access HIV and STI testing services. The testing procedures that many genitourinary medicine clinics follow are time consuming and often require people to re-attend the clinic to get their results. The HIV test we use here works in an hour."
Different attitudes to the sexual activities of young women and men are also a contributory factor in risky sexual behaviour, say the researchers.
"If a male is sleeping around it is seen as a good thing - if it is a girl she is a slut," one Year 12 boy (16 to 17 year olds) said.
The low status of sexually active young women encourages young men to feel little sense of responsibility for contraception and leaves young women reluctant to go into a sexual encounter with proper protection, the report says.
It isn’t all bad news. Schools and homes that step into the breach and provide high aspirations, good quality education and decent preparation for relationships and sex, can protect some young people from the worst risks of a seaside address.
- Living on the Edge: Sexual Behaviour and Young Parenthood in Seaside and Rural Areas of England is available from Social Research Papers, Social Policy, University of Hull, HU6 7RX or from www.teenagepregnancyunit.gov.uk
Ther report conclusions
