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Parents furious after learning that their children are being asked to undergo chlamydia tests during school lessons.
Schools have come under fire for offering children tests for sexually transmitted diseases during lessons.
Parents criticised teachers in East Sussex for not alerting them to plans to give swabs to 15 and 16-year-olds, who were left “humiliated” after being asked to test themselves in school toilets.
A spokesman for Brighton and Hove Council, which is running the scheme in nine schools, said the work was “entirely consistent with Government guidelines” which aim to reduce rates of chlamydia, the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI).
Last night health officials were unable to say how widespread such schemes are.
NHS guidance published in 2012 states that under-16s should only be offered such tests without parental knowledge if children cannot be persuaded to tell their parents.
The mother of one teenage girl at Blatchington Mill in Hove criticised the initiative, and said her daughter refused to do the test, because she felt uncomfortable about it.
She said: "I didn't know anything about it beforehand and I think the school should have let us know as parents that our children were going to be asked to do this.
"I know the tests were done by the students in the toilets but I think it is humiliating to ask teenagers in class to do a test for an STI."
Ashley Harrold, the school’s deputy headteacher, said children were spoken to about STIs in a “personal and social education” lesson and offered the swabs.
He said: "It is an NHS strategy where, to demystify the test, they can have one to take away and try.
The school said it had received one complaint, which it took seriously.
A statement on the school’s website says: “As part of the session all learners are offered the opportunity (no one is made to do it) to do a Chlamydia test during the lesson in an effort to normalise taking a Chlamydia test.
“It is not anticipated that a great number of these will return a positive result, it is more an exercise to demonstrate how easy and painless doing one is and to reinforce in their minds how and where they can do the test should they need to in the future.”
All secondary state schools in Brighton and Hove except for one Catholic School have signed up to the initiative.
originally posted by: OrphanApology
a reply to: AllSourceIntel
You must have never tried going to all those "free clinics" in the U.S.
I have been without insurance, they do not exist in many places. If they do exist they have rules and guidelines that make it difficult or impossible for many people to even take advantage.Especially teenagers who can only have access to insurance through parents, there are not nearly enough services for sexual health. This results in the U.S. having one of the highest teenage pregnancy and STD rates of developed countries. It is very difficult to get free healthcare in the United States.
Like I said, not a big deal. School offered STD test to any student that wanted to take advantage. I doubt any students who weren't having sex opted in. Schools offer things like this all the time, at colleges and high schools depending on area. Blood drives, STD tests, health screenings and a plethora of other health related things. Cheap way for sexually active youths to get tested if they so choose.