In Örnsköldsvik we have something called the Youth Reception. The first Youth Reception started in 1970 in Sweden and in Örnsköldsvik in 1986. It opened a possibility for young people between 13-24 years old to get contraception and talk to someone about thing they don’t want to share with anyone they know.

Contraceptive The young people that visit the Youth Reception come there to get contraceptive for example condoms and contraceptive tablets, but this is only one of many reasons that so many people come to the Youth Reception. Many young people come there just to talk to someone about the opposite sex, sex and personal relationship matters or if they have problems at home. At the Youth Reception you can get urgent day-after-tablets, that is a very strong contraceptive tablet which will prevent a possible pregnancy.

The obligation to observe silence The obligation to observe silence
The staff that work at the Youth Reception consists of educated midwifes, a social secretary and a male nurse. Doctor, priest, gynaecologist, psychologist and a person that are specialist on men are not there all the time but they come if you want to meet them. Some of the reasons that young people turn to the Youth Reception are because of the obligation to observe silence and because it is free. The obligation to observe silence is just for the priest, the other staff have another kind of the obligation to observe silence and if they hear something illegal they must announce it, for example rape.

Special day for boys
The new thing this year is that they are open one evening just for boys. Girls are not allowed to visit the Youth Reception that evening. But of course boys are allowed to visit the Youth Reception other days too. Despite this day not many boys come to the Youth Reception and the few that come want to buy condoms or to see if they have any venereal diseases.

"Who am I"
The questions that many young people have are about their sexuality and identity for example; "Am I normal", "Who am I" and "Why doesn’t he/she love me".In the waiting room at the Youth Reception they have a board with a weekly-question, it is there for the visitors so they can write down their thoughts. They also have a book where you can write what ever you want when you are waiting for your turn for example; "sitting here and waiting for my pregnancy test, I hope that it is negative".

© 2001 Freeway
Writers: Marlene Tillqvist (sp03-45@park.se), Kristina Öhlund (sp03-50@park.se)
HTML by: Martin Jonsson (te03-50@park.se).