Monday, February 16, 2009

Britain doesn't need sex education but a change in attitudes

The news about Britain's youngest father is a reminder if any were needed that there are large parts of Britain where the rules of civilised society don't apply. For years, the "experts" have been telling us that it was a lack of sex education that was responsible for us having the highest teenage pregnancy in Europe. But years after the introduction sex education, we still have the highest teenage pregnancy in Europe.

Clearly something hasn't worked, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that sex education is mostly about how to have sex i.e. putting condoms and bananas and very little about "education" i.e. the dangers of underage sex and the importance of abstinence. But heaven forbid that we should "preach" to teenagers and prevent them from being able to make "informed decisions".

Unfortunately, the political establishment continues to believe that you "can't put the genie back in the bottle" and that any attempt to teach teenagers about the consequences of their actions is being judgemental. As long as their attitude persists, there is unlikely to be any fall in teenage pregnancy.