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HEALTH EDUCATION
Tempting though it may be to think of Health Education as a form of advertising, it has at least one difference:
the product is not always as attractive at first sight as its commercial equivalent — and we certainly do not have
the resources to display it so temptingly before the public. And since what we propose often means giving up
some habit to which people are irrationally, albeit dangerously, addicted, it is not surprising that we do not have
as much success. The Health Educationalist must resign himself to many years, even decades, of ;apparently
fruitless effort before he begins to see any result; and it is too easily forgotten how long it took and how many
setbacks were experienced before such measures as clean water, adequate sewerage and pasteurisation of milk
came to be generally accepted.
Perhaps the greatest problem facing Health Education at the present time is that of cigarette smoking. What we
have to deal with here is literally the refusal of a large proportion of the general public to face the facts, a silent
opposition based on almost pure irrationality. If reason is to have hope of success against this, it will have to have
many years in which to work its effect. Probably a change in fashion would achieve more, but there seems to be
no prospect of this at the present time; and we are forced to rely increasingly on the force of personal example —
which seems feeble enough at the best of times. We can never know how much harm has been done by a parent,
a teacher, a doctor or a borough councillor who smokes.
The forces opposed to health education have been known sometimes to assume the forms of pseudo-rationality,
and the anti-fluoridation movement is a good example. It is quite futile to point out to many of the general
public that the claims of toxicity from fluoridation of water supplies have been shown to be based on faulty
experiment and bad reasoning. Sensational claims always have the edge on plain truth where impact on many of
the public is concerned, though there remains a longterm solution to this: that all the people can't be fooled for
all of the time. But the success of the anti-fluoridation cause so far depends on something much more subtle:
their claim that fluoridation of water is an interference with the rights of the individual.
Sex Education is also a controversial subject nowadays, but there is no doubt that it plays an increasing part in
school curricula, and we are frequently approached by teachers for information, display materials, films, slides
etc. We are sometimes asked to provide expert speakers on subjects like the birth process or venereal disease, and
are pleased to find that marriage guidance counsellors are increasingly in demand and sooner or later we must
give young people all the information they need on birth prevention.
While it is often claimed that parents should be giving this kind of information it tends to be forgotten that
many are too embarrassed to talk it over with their children, or feel that they do not know enough. The matter
is discussed first of all at parent-teacher meetings, and the parents frequently see the same films etc. which are
later shown to their children. The operative word is "education" not "instruction"; and the subject of sex has a
natural place in much wider programmes. Girls tend to receive more, as it often forms a part of their home
economics or biology courses. The preference for physics and chemistry in boys' schools has made it harder to
fit in, but it is encouraging to find that it is appearing more frequently in mixed classes on social studies or
humanities courses.
As a department we have no doubt about the value of sex education. There is no evidence that it is a cause of
promiscuity in young people; indeed the national increase in illegitimacy and sexually transmitted diseases was
already evident in 1958, before a significant proportion of school children were having sex education. Only
too often we have found that promiscuity is associated with abysmal ignorance on sexual matters. The courses
that have been evolved over the years are directed towards helping the child towards a more mature understanding
of the place of sex in the whole pattern of life, not exaggerating or diminishing its role, but showing that,
important as it is to the human being, love matters more.
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