the 07/22/2008

Condom adverts should be screened before 9pm to tackle teenage ...

The group also repeated its plea to the Government to make sexeducation a mandatory part of the National Curriculum

The body's chair Gill Frances said the only way to drive downteenage pregnancy rates was with contraception and for bothteachers and families to talk about sex with children more,adjusting the level of detail depending on their age.

She said that although current policy involving schools and localauthorities was delivering impressive reductions in some areas, theresults were "inconsistent".

At present, teaching the basics about biology and the mechanics ofreproduction is statutory and begins in primary schools. Howeverteaching about sex in its wider context is not compulsory.

If ministers are to have a chance of meeting their targets, shesaid, they have to put sex education at the heart of the formalcurriculum.

"Parents are a child's first educators and they need to know how totalk about the issues if we are serious about reducing teenagepregnancy in this country," she said.

Although the latest figures show that teenage pregnancy rates arefalling, the Government is still likely to miss its target ofhalving the number of teenage pregnancies by 2010 by up to 20years.

The Office of National Statistics figures showed that the number ofgirls aged under 18 who became pregnant was 41,593 in 2006, downfrom 42,325 the previous year.

However, figures released by the Department of Health last monthshowed that the number of abortions among young girls has hit arecord high.

Yearly figures showed the number of abortions among girls under 14rose 21 per cent between 2006 and 2007, by 11 per cent among girlsaged 14, and by 10 per cent rise among the under-16s.

The group, which has courted controversy in the past with claimsthat sexual abstinence as an effective tool in reducing teenagepregnancy was a complete "myth", also called for clinics providingabortions to receive funding to supply contraception.

It also wants a Government-approved website with information aboutsex for children, parents and teachers to be set up.

The Government is due to respond to the recommendations formallywithin months.

Norman Wells, director of the Family Education Trust, said: "Theteenage pregnancy strategy, with its reliance on sex education andconfidential contraception services, has failed.

"To see the Independent Advisory Group persisting in its calls foryet more of the same calls to mind Einstein's definition ofinsanity - doing the same thing over and over again and expectingdifferent results.

"The last thing children need is to see condoms advertised ondaytime television.

"As many have found to their cost, the effectiveness of condoms islimited and they offer very little protection at all against someinfections.

"The real need is not to normalise condom use, but to normalisekeeping sex within a faithful and life-long marriage."

Beverley Hughes, the Children and Young People’s Minister,said: “Effective sex and relationships education (SRE) isessential for young people to make safe and healthy choices abouttheir lives and prevent early pregnancy and sexually transmitteddiseases.

"That is why we are currently reviewing the delivery of SRE inschools to improve the quality and consistency of provision toyoung people.

“The teenage pregnancy strategy is making steady progress,with rates at their lowest level for over 20 years. But we knowthat more needs to be done to continue to reduce teenage pregnancyrates and improve education on the dangers of sexually transmitteddiseases. This is not something that schools can do alone.

“We need parents to get involved and work with teachers andhealth professionals, which is precisely why we will be launching acampaign to empower and inform parents so that talking about sexand relationships is easy, natural and something that becomes anormal part of everyday life.”