Photo credits

The Embalse de Riano in northern Spain. The picture was taken by .... me!

Monday, February 4

Engineering for sexual health

Listening to “Start the Week” on BBC Radio 4 on the way to work this morning…

The logic starts in Kensington High Street. There used to be pedestrian guard rails along the edge of the pavements (that’s sidewalks to you Americans), but these were removed and there has been a reduction in the number of accidents because drivers are now being more careful, taking more responsibility for themselves. (This is corroborated by articles in New Civil Engineer - the magazine of the Institution of Civil Engineers)

The next step is the increase in smoking among teenagers co-incident with an increase in advertising for nicotine patches as part of ‘no-smoking’ policies – the kids now think that they can give up when they want to.

This leads the discussing on to America. [I’m only reporting what I heard on the radio here] Apparently Oprah Winfrey has been complaining about an increase in oral sex among teenagers. But this has happened in the states which have introduced stricter abortion laws for that age group, with requirements to tell parents etc. So, the kids feel less safe having sex, and go for the intimate ‘kissing’ instead, and this has resulted in a reduction in sexually transmitted diseases.

Clearly, tough love works, whereas excessive protection (guardrails, abortion etc) can be counterproductive.

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