Children as young as eight have been offered free condoms by youth workers near a park play area, prompting fury from a local mother.
The condoms were distributed by workers from Cornerhouse, a Hull-based sexual health charity, which is largely funded by public money.
But local mum Samantha Fuller was left fuming after she discovered that her 13-year-old daughter was given the condoms, and that her 8-year-old nephew was also offered them.
Discovered
Mrs Fuller, who discovered the condoms in her daughter’s bedroom, condemned the scheme, saying: “My daughter’s sexual health is my responsibility, it’s not that of a stranger giving out condoms.
“I feel she is being encouraged to have sex and she is being encouraged to be deceitful. It’s not right.”
Mrs Fuller, from Beverley in East Yorkshire, added: “She’s my daughter, she’s not the Government’s daughter, the council’s daughter or the youth centre’s daughter.”
Aggressive
Her concerns were echoed by Norman Wells, Director of the Family Education Trust, who said: “There is no justification for the investment of public funds in this aggressive and intrusive scheme.
“There is no question that giving out contraceptives to young people gives them the green light to experiment sexually and will encourage some of them to become sexually active.”
But Tish Lamb, Chief Executive of Cornerhouse, defended the scheme saying: “The idea of street-based projects is to enable people who maybe don’t have access to mainstream services having access to support, advice and anything they might need to know about sexual well-being.”
The charity has also confirmed that they do give condoms to children, but only to those who are over 13.
Pregnancy
Earlier this year it was revealed that a £280 million Government plan to slash the number of teenage pregnancies was set to be a spectacular failure.
Although the rate had dipped, it was falling woefully short of the Government’s stated target, and critics labeled the Government’s plan a “disaster”.
In response, ministers promised to ‘refresh’ their policies, but many saw it as ploughing ahead with the same failed strategies.