Call To Ban F.p.a. Officer (Press, 7 October 1976)

On 7 October 1976, the debate surrounding sexual education in New Zealand schools intensified. The Minister of Education, Mr Gandar, faced calls from Miss Patricia Bartlett, secretary of the Society for Promotion of Community Standards, to prohibit the Family Planning Association’s education officer from working in schools. This request stemmed from concerns over the association's advocacy for repealing the existing law that prohibits the instruction of contraception to individuals under the age of 16, which Miss Bartlett deemed both ridiculous and detrimental to health. Mrs P. Zeisler, the national secretary of the Family Planning Association, argued during a weekend event in Hamilton that the law was futile because it was frequently disregarded by medical professionals and family planners, suggesting it should be abolished. In response, Miss Bartlett expressed disappointment with the Family Planning Association for not utilising the NZ$60,000 government grant received the previous year for more pressing issues, instead of employing an education officer to teach what she described as a double standard view on sex and contraception. Miss Bartlett asserted that the Family Planning Association was misleading the youth of New Zealand by implying that a lifestyle involving sex outside of marriage is acceptable as long as contraceptives are used. She claimed that such messaging was incompatible with the ideals of fostering stable and happy marriages among children. She urged the government to focus on promoting self-discipline rather than what she termed self-indulgence. The Society for Promotion of Community Standards called for action to ensure that the Family Planning Association's education officer was not allowed in schools. Miss Bartlett further argued that if the Family Planning Association could not convince individuals over the age of 16—who account for a significant number of illegitimate births and cases of venereal disease—to practise contraception, it was unreasonable to expect immature and emotionally unstable children to do so. In her critique, Miss Bartlett compared Mrs Zeisler's stance to calling for the repeal of laws against various crimes, which are also frequently broken, suggesting that such an approach to law and social issues lacked credibility. She maintained that contraceptives do not solve deeper societal problems, such as young girls seeking affection due to unsatisfactory family environments. Finally, Miss Bartlett challenged the Family Planning Association and Mr Gandar to identify any Western democratic country that has successfully reduced rates of illegitimacy, venereal disease, and abortion through sex education and contraception instruction in schools, asserting that she could name several countries where these issues had worsened as a result of such policies.

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