to think older teens should be made to watch what an abortion is in PHSE. (sorry possibly triggering)

[StraightLineOfResignation]

I know this may be controversial but I have thought this for some time.
Abortion is legal in this country but still straight forward , informative talks about it are clouded by morality and judgement and at the end of the day, sometimes people need to have one in tragic circumstances i.e people who are made critically ill by pregnancy.
And are often as well as already scared and sad, i don't think most people make this decision lightly, are woefully underprepared which i'm sure must only add to emotional trauma.
and of course there are too many potential uninterested fathers who just utter 'get rid of it' at the hearing of potentially being a father, so disgustingly flippantly like throwing a crisp packet in the bin, I do think if they especially had seen a medical video of the procedure, well i think the number of people who just thrown that term around would be significantly less, if they had actually seen that image with their own eyes , and would be less detached from the idea and process.
I'm talking older teens , like 16+ here , not 11 year olds.
my mum and i have always though this, i would find it traumatising and pretty shocking, but compared to people who feel shame, go backstreet putting themselves at risk and people who go through with pregnancies they did not want/need. Surely a bit of discomfort is better then that being a legacy of another generation.

[PPaka]

That's horrific
It could stay with them for life, could be really disturbing

[BOFtastic]

It's surprising to me that you say you knew of many teenagers in a "rough area" who opted for termination. In my experience of working in schools in areas of poverty, the overwhelming majority of girls who became pregnant actively wanted a baby, and I can't think of a single case in which they didn't continue with the pregnancy. In contrast, girls who have a good future and the prospect of university and interesting careers/travel/other opportunities seem to be more vigilant about contraception and are more prepared to consider the option of terminating.

It makes me very sad that that young women are often so swayed by sentimentality, which your suggestion would surely reinforce, and by their perceived lack of a future worth delaying having children for.

[MrsBennetsEldest]

OP, your sex education was poor I agree. Your siblings have yet to receive any.
Do your parents have any involvement in educating their children regarding sex, relationships etc. or is that not their job?

[TheToysAreALIVEITellThee]

As long as you agree with them being shown videos of the dangers of pregnancy, the risks of giving birth etc etc etc.....

[lifeinthefastlane1]

Would you show them footage of a body being scraped off the road after a traffic accident to scare them into driving carefully? No?

totally off topic, but we did actually have RTA police file pictures shown to us at college when we were 16 (sooo long ago now) precisely to cut down on young motorcyclists and drivers, I can still remember them now and it did work on me! we were also shown bodies after house fires, with regards to smoking, and murder victims and other unrelated gruesone pictures, not sure why they were included but it was like a grahic episode of Doctor G. I attened another course a year later and got to watch it again, so it was standard practice to show it on all courses for 16-18 yr olds in the 80's

[StraightLineOfResignation]

Look, I've not been rude to the people who said I'm sick,mad, insane obviously have an agenda I'm obviously peddling religious propaganda , I've been markedly polite in the face of some unwarranted and bang out line assumptions,




Doesn't have to show what comes out, but what the consultation is like, the process before, aftercare? I said previously It shouldn't be graphic. but at the same time you know its a medical procedure?

[poorincashrichinlove]

I saw a very graphic and disturbing film showing an abortion at my catholic school, aged about 14I think it was called 'The Silent Scream'. I won't go into too much detail but the film showed the foetus being torn limb from limb as it was suctioned from the uterus. Horrific! Those images haunted me for a long time. Incidently, only the girls were ushered into the drama studio thay day!

I did take the mature decision to have an abortion though, about 7 years later so the film didn't act as a preventative method, as suggested by the op.

Just as horrific images of tarred lungs have little effect on stopping smoking, subjecting young women to graphic surgical images of abortion does not prevent accidental conception.

YABVU

[perfectstorm]

BOF I've seen stats that support that observation. In fact I was told by a sociologist that "the best contraceptive for young girls is ambition."

[HesterShaw]

Er...sometimes abortion isn't a massive thing people feel guilt and disgust over, you know.

Someone very close to me had one. She felt no guilt, no regrets. She wanted it, so she could get on with the rest of her life, as a 21 year old student.

How would having seen a video have helped her apart from making her feel a bit shittier?

Personally, I don't think there are actually enough terminations in this country. Many young women don't have high enough expectations of themselves to see themselves as anything other than someone's mother, because it's all they've ever known, though obviously it would be better if they and their sexual partners used contraception more effectively in the first place. "Dont worry hun, you'll be a great mum, all babies need is love...." etc isn't necessarily true.

[LineRunner]

The very first poster on the thread said it for me.

Your premise is nuts.

[NearTheWindmill]

Here are some better ways to educate:

Empower young women to say no
Empower young women to understand there is more to life than casual sex
Empower young women to take responsibility for contraception
Empower young women to value themselves
Empower young women to believe they are equal
Empower young women to achieve the means to escape poverty
Empower young women to make informed decisions about their futures
Empower young women to know that relationships can be good and kind and mutual
Empower young women that sex should always provide mutual comfort and pleasure
Empower young women to be assertive

I'm not sure that watching an abortion supports any that. I am sure that as the mother of a 15 year old daughter I am not impressed with sex education and feel it should be far more holistic and less clinical. I am also sure that I would not want my daughter to see such a video.

I am also sure that I am opposed to abortion as an alternative means of contraception but if my daughter got pregnant by accident I would support her and her legal right to end the pregnancy. I might not agree and I might be deeply disappointed but I would keep it zipped, I would take her I would bring her home and I would continue to love her. I hope that she won't but she might.

[MeepMeepVrooooom]

But why OP I don't actually understand why you think it's a good idea?

Are you pro choice? You don't have to answer I'm just intrigued...

[Binkyridesagain]

According to DD, who's school sex ed wasn't that long ago, what is described at her school is what happens, there is no need for a video.

[perfectstorm]

Straight, if you think all young people should be shown footage of medical procedures they may need, where do you start and stop? I've had a root canal and several fillings; I've given birth and needed second degree stitches. Why single abortion out? Genuine question.

[NearTheWindmill]

And something vital I missed. To empower all young men to appreciate why women need to be empowered and to take as much responsibility over contraception and the emotional, intellectual and physical well being of others as women of all ages do. To empower young men to respect a woman's wishes.

[WilsonFrickett]

poor I didn't see the silent scream but remember well all the catholics first being excluded from 'normal' SE, then the girls been herded off to talk about the evils of abortion. Not the boys though. Obviously...

[JapaneseMargaret]

So now you're back-tracking and saying they should just be shown the consultation process, the before and after-care.

Um OK.....?

[crossparsley]

I'm puzzled. You seem to have come to your own conclusion about what you would do in your life, did you need a video to come to that decision? If not, why do you think other people need this mandated by you?

Your implied link between seeing videos or not, and using backstreet provision, is totally obscure to me. Do you think there is any, and if so, why?

[StraightLineOfResignation]

I'm more on about the patients pov, rather than an embarrassing bodies style spycam whatever,
I bet most girls don't know where to start, who to ring etc?

MeepMeepvroom, I'm largely indifferent , but yeah i suppose I am, I think aggressive pro lifers are scum, I've very publically challenged a pro lifer on my fb after posting some photos in the past,I've actually said i'm not religious/pro life in the slightest several times on here, i apologize if that comes across arsy, but it's become very personal and I've had some very personal out of line assumptions, Including MrsBennets rather creepy post.

[StraightLineOfResignation]

I'm not backtracking at all, people jumped on the 'you're religious' bandwagon'. before i had a chance.

[JapaneseMargaret]

fifi - the point remains, though. The fact is, very, very few women have abortions past the 20-week stage unless for a very 'good' reason.

You know the anomaly scan happens at 20-weeks, right? At that point, some parents learn that there may be a serious issue with their baby, and take the decision to terminate. Pretty much all of those babies are actually wanted, and the decision is a heart-breaking on.

The number of women who decide on a whim to have one at 20-, 21-, 22-, 23- weeks is so negligible that it just doesn't hold up as argument to stop them being allowed that late.

[echt]

You're not making much sense, OP. If teens already see stuff worse than the film of an abortion you'd like to force them to watch, then how would it be effective? And now the mere showing of the consultation process will somehow work.

[JapaneseMargaret]

You are back-tracking. You're now saying teens should just be shown the sort of before and after-care they will get, and the consultation.

What is the point of that....?

[perfectstorm]

But surely the best way to handle that is to get someone in from Marie Stopes or the BPAS or the local hospital outpatients clinic performing terminations, who can talk them through contraception and termination in a calm and non-directional way? Why are videos needed? I genuinely don't get it.

[LineRunner]

Well in that case, OP, your opening post was incoherent.