Online counselling course

I've been invited to attend a seminar in Chester early next year in order to gain some more qualifications in counselling - specifically in the area of online assistance. Basically, having done training with CARE a few years back, I have decided that if this new venture of an online counselling facility with the birth of My Stopgap is going to be super duper successful, then I ought to have even more training in the art of counselling someone online. It will also enable me to create an instant messenger type service with which to counsel people there and then rather than wait for emails to be sent back and forth. This will allow someone to have the choice of chatting immediately or, if they prefer, to email at more convenient times for them.

Tomorrow I'm off to the crisis pregnancy centre to hold the fort whilst the boss lady goes to meeting after meeting - this should also give me a chance to do some further study, answer the phone, make appointments for clients to see someone about an issue and also to counsel people myself. I've also been offered the opporutnity to go on an all-expenses paid four day residential course to learn about teaching teenagers about relationships, sex, marriage, pregnancy, abortion and all other things inbetween which will hopefully make a dent in the rising tide of teen pregnancies. It's called Evaluate and involves a multimedia presentation to a class with the oppportunity for it to become fully interactive if they have questions or wish to become involved in any rle playing activities which may arise. Knowing that the majority of people who do a similar work only really tell kids how to have sex more safely, Evaluate want to encourage kids to not follow the trend of "you have to have sex or you're abnormal" and know that it is ok to say no if you don't want to or are not ready for sex yet. Evaluate also teaches the importance of marriage in a society for whom marriage is either an outdated institution or something which is easily gotten out of if need be - something other organisations may not choose to impress upon young people for fear of being seen as outdated themselves.

Whether I join this programme or not is unsure at the moment...I don't know if I can dedicate that much time to travelling, leaving my husband and daughter to attempt to fend for themselves (not a pretty sight!). I'll have a think, pray about it too and hopefully I'll be able to make a decision either way just after Christmas (the course starts in January). But even if I don't enter into the realm of teaching it is something that certainly grabs my interest - how many more kids are we going to see in the street on a Friday morning when they ought to be in school, pushing buggies and buying maternity clothes? How many times are we going to open a newspaper, a magazine or switch on the telly and see young people having babies, dropping out of their education and effectively putting their lives on hold to bring up a child when they are barely out of childhood themselves? Or worse - kids as young as 12 and 13 having abortions without anyone knowing and without really having the time to talk it through with someone and explore other options that may be available to them? We should be protecting our kids - not just by teaching them about contraception but also discussing influences such as drugs and alcohol and the effects that they can have on how we make decisions. We ought to take responsibilty for young people instead of brushing them off onto the teachers, the authorities or blaming it on our own upbringing and failures as parents/guardians - we should be promoting healthy relationships based on a mutual love and respect for the other person; fidelity, trust and commitment should be the cornerstones of our own relationships so that kids can learn how to conduct themselves and understand what true love really is.

We should be showing young people through example and through comprehensive teaching that sex is something which has been glamourised to the point of ridiculous in the media and by their friends - it should be regarded as something special and private; between two loving people who are prepared to take onboard the possible consequences should they have inprotected sex in the future. Now I'm not saying teenagers are incapable of having mature and responsible relationships - I have seen and indeed know many young girls with boyfriends and a few kids between them who have stuck together through thick and thin to create a loving and stable home for their family. But what I am saying is that children should not be having children - a party, some alcopops and a couple of pills do not constitute the foundations of a secure and loving relationship. The value of life, the sanctity of marriage and the importance of standing up for yourself when the time comes and you are feeling pressurised into having sex - these should all be upheld as essential components to educating young people today about loves, sex and relationships.

Because reminding kids to wear a condom is not going to protect them from the potential emotional damage...