Delivering tough messages all Attitude

By Anna Bowden
When the time comes to talk about the birds and the bees, the buds and the booze, the boys and babes - sometimes parents and the teachers just don't cut it.
In the realm of teenagers, it sometimes helps if messages are delivered in the form of a 30-year-old monkey-esque character named Matt - call him "Sex Guy" if you prefer.
Not to be misinterpreted, "Sex Guy", aka Attitude presenter Matthew Bruns, delivers programmes about attitude, drugs and alcohol, feeling blue as well as relationships and sex which are especially tailored to teenagers using humour.
"We're not telling them what to do, we're telling them how to think," Mr Bruns explained.
Mr Bruns, who has just completed sessions in several Western Bay secondary schools, has been involved with the Auckland-based not-for-profit Attitude organisation for three years.
Bay teens are among about 120,000 young people around the country who hear Attitude presentations each year, with some schools opting to carry the organisation's resource kits, which are designed in line with Ministry of Health guidelines.
The presentations are built with clear, crisp concepts - but the x-factor lies in the delivery.
Mr Bruns, who spoke at Tauranga Girls' College on Thursday, said personalising the ideas, using "young people" language, while wearing young people clothes all meant students could identify better with speakers.
Tackling subjects parents sometimes shy away from - such as sexual orientation, boundaries and relationships, as well as drug experimentation and addiction - presenters offer quirky examples specially designed for each year group.
Year 11 students heard the Hard-Wired presentation, addressing social and emotional reasons youth become involved in drug-taking.
Apart from providing the facts about tobacco, alcohol and drug use, it encouraged teens to assess risk and think about possible outcomes.
"When I was at school," Mr Bruns told the 200-odd crowd, "we had these really old drug educators come in ... they would wheel them in, they had big freaky beards. Even the women had them."
The banter-style presentation appears similar to that of a stand-up comic, complete with actions, skits, voices and faces to add exciting elements.
"Did you guys watch The Osbournes? Ozzy drooling and banging into walls? Man, I'm laughing at that guy, not with him.
"He's like a walking, talking `say no to drugs and alcohol' advertisement."
But amid stories and jokes the hard messages ring out: "Why do we do things that we know are bad for us?"
* www.attitude.org.nz