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Equip young people (11-18's) with the skills and knowledge they need to protect their sexual health and that of their partners by building their self-awareness, self-esteem and confidence to enable them to make informed decisions about their personal and sexual lives. This encourages them to develop caring and responsible relationships based on respect for themselves and others and in the long term improve the quality of their own lives and, as a result, those of the communities in which they live.
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Situation
The UK’s teenage pregnancy rates are twice those of Germany, three times those of France and six times those of the Netherlands. Boys’ attitudes are often distorted by the negative influences of popular culture, such as music and media, and many girls feel under pressure to have sex too early so their experience of sex and relationships is predominantly negative. Compounding this, we have a general culture that allows sex to be everywhere; on television, at the cinema, in advertisements, yet harbours a reluctance to talk openly to young people about sex and relationships. The Life Skills project aims to tackle the effects of this combination of disadvantage with the cultural view on sexual issues by offering a community based personal development programme working with disadvantaged and vulnerable young people in a variety of community settings in inner cities. A range of topics will be covered including relationships, feelings and emotions, sexuality, sexual orientation, sexual behaviour, pregnancy, pregnancy choices, rights and responsibilities and making appropriate and informed choices and decisions. The programme will reflect the context of young people’s lives and the many pressures and influences which impinge upon them. The first stage of the project will work with young people to develop a model based on local need. The second stage will deliver training to a range of professionals to ensure that the programme is embedded and sustainable. After two years there will be a group of professionals who will have been skilled to deliver the groups for young people themselves and to train others to deliver the programme, thus requiring minimal input from fpa.