The Hormone Factory - Valueless web based sex information for 10-12 year olds!! 
9 April 2009

'The Hormone Factory' web site, which is an interactive sex education site aimed at 10 – 12 year olds, gained newspaper coverage on Tuesday and that report focused on it being endorsed by the Queensland Education Department. But this is not just in Queensland. It is being promoted in other states and internationally. It was designed by La Trobe University Faculty of Health Science.

The Tasmanian LinkZone youth site links to it and the Victorian Government ‘Better health’ web site tells parents “Use the Internet - log onto a good website, like The Hormone Factory, and let your child browse alone.

” Neither is it new, the ABC program Life Matters reported on it on 6 August 2002!

What is all the fuss about?
This site told me, “You told us you were 11… It is normal for you to be interested in this stuff [pornography] at this age.

”When talking of abortion it states “It can also be a relief.”When talking about AIDS, it does NOT mention it can be fatal, it does NOT mention that in Australia AIDS is mostly caused through male-male anal sex (homosexuality).

ACTION: At the bottom of this email are suggested people to write to because we have a duty of care to protect our children. They are even more vulnerable today than ever in the past. Those who do not have their best interests at heart only want to push their own Humanistic, Darwinian world view - that we are all animals and that sexuality is free and fluid.

Examples of the valueless nature of this site are summed up in the following statements. Are you aged 10 to 12 this site is for you. If you want to know how babies are made, click a fuzzy hormone at the top to find out more...

Question “When to have sex?”
Answer, “It is important that a person feels ready, safe, happy and old enough.”

Q. “Decisions”
A. “Some people want to be in love and know that they are loved back before they have sex, so that is good to wait for.” “Some people wait till they are married to have sex, and that’s an important decision that matters to them.” “Some people have sex because they like having sex and don’t need to be in love.”

Q. “Termination”
A. “Sometimes people find they are pregnant and do not want to have a baby.  They might decide to go to a doctor and have an operation to end the pregnancy. This is called a termination, or an abortion. Having a termination is a hard decision to make, and can be very sad. It can also be a relief. If a woman has a termination she can still have a baby at another time.
http://www.thehormonefactory.com/infopageOverlay.cfm?categoryID=3&topicID=29&infopageID=66
NOTE: This site does not mention some women cannot have babies following abortion and it does not mention that there can be adverse consequences from an abortion.

This site also says, “It is normal to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual, or heterosexual.”
NOTE: They put heterosexual LAST!
http://www.thehormonefactory.com/infopageOverlay.cfm?categoryID=1&topicID=20&infopageID=24

They suggest “babies have erections”!! Straight out of Kinsey’s paedophile assisted sex research??

Then there is this gem of ambiguity, “Research in Australia says that about half of all 18 year olds have had sex. But more 18 year olds have not had sex. “About half do, but more don’t”, is that confusing? Perhaps that’s because I am not 10 years old!
But what is a 10 year old meant to make of such a statement?

Adults have sexualised our society for decades and that sexualisation is now being used as the ‘reason’ to sexualise our children and grandchildren. 
La Trobe University, creators of this valueless site have, for some years, been sexualising our children by doing school based research on sexual activity/attitudes and promoting their somewhat skewed results as evidence of increasing sexual activity.

We all know that sexual activity among young people has increased and this is due to many factors, but the more it is researched through questioning children about intimate details, and the more it is ‘taught’ as OK through school based sex-ed, the more it becomes true.Inviting children to use an interactive web site will mess further with immature minds.

They talk about parents and teachers being involved but there are no barriers to access. In fact the introduction states “Are you aged 10 to 12 this site is for you.If you want to know how babies are made, click a fuzzy hormone at the top to find out more...”

Some of the web sites that recommend the Hormone Factory

Victorian Better Health web site http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/BHCV2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Sex_education_primary_school_children?OpenDocument

The Tasmanian Government site
The Tasmanian government web site, ‘Linkzone’, designed through their Office of Children and Youth Affairs (OCYA), links to, The Hormone Factory web site. It states…This fun site has information for 10 to 12 year olds on stuff like periods, girls' bits, boy's bits, puberty and making babies http://www.linkzone.tas.gov.au/topics/health/body/feeling_good_about_yourself/the_hormone_factory

The Stockholm challenge web site states about the Hormone Factory (http://www.stockholmchallenge.se/data/hormone_factory)
Brief description
The Hormone Factory is a website intended for an international audience of 10 – 12 year olds providing sexual and reproductive health information that is educative, entertaining, interesting, appropriate and accurate.

Vision, Objectives and Goals Website Objectives:
· explain how the body works to give kids more control over their bodies
· encourage discussion between parents and children
· present sex in a positive way, rather than contributing to fear and silence.
· express both emotional and physical experiences – “sex is a lived experience”
· represent a holistic/integrated understanding of reproduction and the body
· debunk and correct myths and school-yard fables
· aim for social justice and cultural sensitivity by ensuring that the site is accessible and relevant
· support the teaching of reproduction and sexual health education programs in school

There are Links to Family Planning Queensland Info sheets that say…“Innocence means freedom from guilt or shame, whereas ignorance means lacking knowledge or information.”
When should I start? “You already have! Children start to learn about sexuality from the day they are born.”

ACTION

Please write to your State Education minister and Opposition Education Minister.
Ask them to remove links and recommendations to this web site –
Ask that they pressure La Trobe uni to remove the site from the internet.Tell them that sexualising our children with this information at 8 – 10 years of age is nothing less than child abuse.
Go to Salt Shakers web site where you will find links to all state and federal government web sites. Follow the links to your State and then to the MP address list, search for Education and shadow Education Ministers.
Visit your State Member and share your concerns – or at least phone their offices and ask to speak to them.

ALL IT TAKES FOR EVIL TO TRIUMPH IS FOR GOOD MEN (AND WOMEN) TO DO NOTHING - Edmund Burke