Corrie star supports 'moral' sex ed initiatives

Kids should be taught about sex “in a moral way”, according to Coronation Street’s 17-year-old Sacha Parkinson, as a Christian charity launches three short videos explicit about the impact of sex on others.

In one video, plasticine couples graphically depict how individuals are always affected by the bonds that form in every sexual encounter. The video invites people to stop messing around with relationships and instead start sticking together.

"If people are just being taught about sex, then they'll think ‘that's something we should do’. If they're taught in a moral way, then it gives more respect to it,” says the actress, whose character Sian Powers is friends with the soap opera’s Christian teen Sophie Webster.

Speaking about the ‘purity lockets’ that the two characters wear, Sacha comments, "It is a good idea and it allows people to wait. It gives people an option."

Another video reveals the thoughts of a man sitting with his family reflecting on an affair he is having at work. Hinting at the damage caused by passive smoking, the sketch highlights the injustice to others caused by the actions of those who insist that sex is simply a question for the two consenting partners involved.

Sacha, who previously played a pregnant young teenager in a film called “A Boy Called Dad” notes, "People are too young to understand what the consequences are until you see these films and stuff like the ‘purity pledge’ to realise where it can go and what bad things can happen.”

In contrast, for those who “decide not to have sex at a young age, it shows you the good things about it."

“Most young people are only taught the biology of sexual intercourse,” said Dr John Hayward, Director of the Jubilee Centre, responsible for producing the videos. “It is not until they start experimenting that they discover, too late, that every sexual relationship, whether brief or long-lasting, creates ties that the couple will carry with them into all their future relationships.”

Dr Hayward told Christian Today, “We need to equip young people to make more informed decisions about when and with whom to engage in sexual activity – not just how to do so. If we fail to be explicit about the social, emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of sex, then we are guilty of neglect.”

“The videos and accompanying discussion questions, together with a supporting book by trained counsellor Guy Brandon, ‘Just Sex: Is it ever just sex?’, will help young people to explore the impact that sexual relationships have on all our other relationships – on parents, children, past and future partners, friends, colleagues and, ultimately, the whole of society.”

The Jubilee Centre is a Christian social reform charity based in Cambridge. For four years the Jubilee Centre has spearheaded original research into sexual ethics and relationships. Its conclusions are presented in three public information bulletins on YouTube, an accompanying lesson plan for teachers and youth workers, a book entitled “Just Sex: Is it ever just sex?”, authored by Guy Brandon and published by IVP, and a related set of studies for churches and Christian unions.

On the web: www.jubilee-centre.org