doubtful value.

Sufficient instruction should be given to adolescents regarding venereal
diseases and their effects to ensure that if they do contract them it
shall not be through ignorance. The Committee cannot too strongly
emphasize their belief, however, that knowledge of the effects of
venereal diseases is in itself by no means a sufficient safeguard; that
in addition to such knowledge the cultivation of a high moral standard
is necessary, and if this is reinforced by religious sanctions it is
likely to be more effective.

The Committee agree with the view expressed by Dr. E.T.R. Clarkson in a
recent text-book, entitled "The Venereal Clinic," that in many instances
an excessive stress has been placed upon the factor of fear. He says
that a very small proportion of the community are restrained from
indulging in promiscuous sexual intercourse through fear, and it is
irrational to rely so much upon an emotion which at the best is but
slightly inhibitory, and which cannot in itself exercise a direct
energizing influence for good. "We do not," he continues, "wish to deter
the community from living a life of sexual promiscuity by rendering them
fearful of the possibilities of acquiring venereal disease, but we want
rather to instil such an ideal into them, whether it be of a religious,
ethical, or altruistic nature, as will tend to make them regard such a
life as incongruous with those tenets and therefore as undesirable,
however much it may be desired on other grounds." He adds that the
emphatic reiteration of fear possesses another and dangerous
disadvantage. "There is no doubt, as venereologists will testify, that
many individuals are seriously suffering from the effects of fear thus
engendered in their minds. In some instances the resultant damage to
their mentality is more serious than the venereal disease from which