Losing a boyfriend or girlfriend, being in or out of love and becoming pregnant are the main concerns of young people in the Cork area, not HIV or AIDS or the possibility that a sexual disease may be transmitted through intimate contact.
This is the stark finding of the Alliance Centre for Sexual Health in Cork which has responded by tailoring a programme aimed at making sexually active young people more responsible for their own health.
According to Ms Deirdre Seery, a director of the alliance, when 800 young people in Cork were canvassed about their views on AIDS, it was found the disease was not something they expected to affect their lives.
Armed with this knowledge, the researchers, then part of the AIDS Alliance in the city, decided to reform the organisation and began to concentrate on equipping young people with the skills necessary for responsible sexual health.
The alliance's education programme also incorporates courses for parents and peer groups who will spread the message to young people. The alliance is the first organisation in the State to promote a sexual health programme based on the reality, as Ms Seery puts it, "that young people still go out at the weekend believing they will not have sexual contact and then for one reason or another, be it use of drugs, alcohol or peer pressure, wind up doing so".
The link between unanticipated sexual behaviour and alcohol or drugs continues to be a worry, she adds. "Our message is to take responsibility for sexual health and decision-making from start to finish. Rather than take a negative approach, hammering home the danger of disease, we adopt a positive attitude, concentrating on the value of taking responsibility for one's own sexual health."
With parents, the aim is to foster an understanding of the pressures of the world in which their teenagers are living, to help them recognise the various drugs and cope with issues around drugs and to make them comfortable when it comes to discussing sex.
The alliance's helpline is 021-427615.