Baldock Larry: Voting — Correction; General Debates 
Baldock Larry: Voting — Correction; General Debates 
[Volume:608;Page:5700] 
LARRY BALDOCK (United Future) 
: 
 I want to discuss the results of the  
New Zealand Medical Journal 
 survey announced on 4 April in relation to the health behaviours of our year 9 to 13 youth. The study covered 9570 students from 133 randomly selected secondary schools across New Zealand in 2001. I raise the matter today because serious issues were revealed in those survey results and I do not believe it is satisfactory to ignore them. The survey covered health choices such as wearing seat belts drinking alcohol smoking cigarettes smoking marijuana and sexual intercourse. Each of those categories bears further analysis as do the questions that relate to violence suicide and family life that were covered by the survey. 
Today I will focus on one issue and make some comments in relation to the current sexual education programmes in our schools. When the sexual activity results were announced in the media the first commentator said something like: “Well there are not as many sexually active kids as we all thought. It’s not as bad as we were led to believe.” The survey revealed that two-thirds of our young people had never had sexual intercourse. If people were expecting that the majority of young people were sexually active then the results could be seen as positive. It is certainly a point worth making that not every young person is “doing it” as the sitcoms on television continually try to tell us. However my thoughts upon hearing those media comments were immediately directed towards the 33 percent of young people who are doing it. 
I have to say that further examination of the statistics reveals a more depressing figure. The two-thirds figure is an average across the ages represented in the survey. It was actually revealed that 16 percent of our 13-year-olds 33 percent of our 15-year-olds and 48 percent of our 17-year-olds are sexually active. That has to be tragic for our nation. Who is weeping for our young people in this nation? Who will protect their innocence and fight for their right to have a childhood? Would any of us in this House who are parents really want our 13-year-old children to be included in those percentages? 
Last weekend I attended a wedding where a young couple had chosen abstinence in their relationship before marriage. What a stunning ceremony as the couple exchanged their vows! Statistics and surveys all over the world overwhelmingly give them a better chance of a happy sexually fulfilled future. Do our youth get told that what happens in the back seat of a car at 13 15 and 17 cannot be compared to what can happen when sex is supported by commitment intimacy and a life-long relationship? 
On my return from Sweden last year I briefly visited Washington and met Dr Wade Horne who is the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services with the Bush administration. He was able to inform me that teenage pregnancy in the US is showing substantial decline. I asked what his programme was that was making a difference. He said: “We are simply telling the young people that they can postpone sexual involvement until marriage and the young people are responding to the challenge in great numbers.” Our young people need to be told the truth and the truth is that condoms will reduce the risk if one is sexually active but they do not guarantee safe sex. 
The survey further revealed that 29 percent of the female survey participants aged 13 to 17 had thought about killing themselves in the last year. Ten percent had tried in some way or another to take their own lives. How many of these precious young lives came from the 30 percent that had already been sexually active? Did no one tell them that a piece of rubber will not protect their hearts? Later today we will continue debating in this House whether to legalise prostitution. Will this be the future career choice for our next generation? 
Many excellent programmes are being used in schools in parts of the country. I applaud the work of Parenting With Confidence the Family Education Network—with its postponing sexual involvement programmes—and Campaign For Our Children. These programmes must raise their own funds or require school boards to pay from their tight budgets. I ask the Government to give school boards the choice as to which programmes they wish to use in their schools by allowing the funding to be provided on a fairer distribution basis than the current system which favours the Family Planning Association.