Under 16s pregnancy rate still rising and government have reached the limit of their action

[beatie]

This follows on nicely from the 3 sisters who all got pregnant within a year of each other and how the mother would not take the sole blame.

Guardian - Appeal to Parents on Teenage Birth

Why do you think we have the highest teen pregnancy rate in Europe? It must be a wide combination of things. Is it just down to parents not discussing this with their kids? Do we have a higher proportion of people living in 'poor' areas than other European countries?

It seems a bit sad to me that the government cannot find another way to tackle this.

Hotmama - I know that lots of teenagers have sex under the age of 16. I was one of them. However I took responsibility for my own contraception because I didn't want a baby.

Sex education does exist in schools, I find it so hard to beleive when some people say they weren't told the consequences etc.

Sophable I agree with what you are saying, but don't think I'd be comfortable with sex education in pimary schools.

but northerner even when i went to (catholic state) primary school, children were discussing sex by the time they were 9 or10, at the latest...and we had sex education there, but nothing about contraception....if you don't get kids when they are beginning to think about these things, you're too late imo.

teen contraceptive

just read that my area, Hull, has one of the lowest abortion rates amongst the under 16's in the country but our neighbouring (posh, rural, tory, david Davis) constituency has a much higher rate - what that means of course is that lots of under age girls in Hull choose to keep their babies - I would guess because of lower aspirations and less pressure from family for an abortion. I would say Hull is not 'poor' but 'deprived'- we get to boast some of the lowest/highest (always at the worst end of the scale) rates of GCSE passes, STD's, child abandonment etc etc and that is even in comparison to inner city London boroughs. There must be a connection between utterly rubbish social environment and teenage pregnancy rates.

Religion also plays a role - some of our poorer neighbouring countries are strongly Catholic for example and it wouldn't be all that great to be proudly displaying your 'pre marriage' baby bump. I think also that abortion is now banned in some countries (i'm thinking Poland and still Ireland?) and lots of young girls probably travel abroad for abortions that do not show up on their countries statistics

We are back to the old 'poverty of the spirit' argument. It isn't so much that people lack the material things in life. As people have posted, being strapped for cash isn't the issue. It is when people lack the feeling that they are part of a community. they don't fear the aprobation of society by getting pregnany too young, most of their mates will have done the same thing!

They don't feal that there is anything else there for them. they have a farcical idea of what motherhood will be. The fathers never stay on the scene. the girls wil then go on to have other children by other fathers, and these are possible more likly to be dysfuctional in their own way

I agree with a lot of what sophable has said. I do think a lot of the problems in our country are to do with our attitude towards sex. In the Netherlands, for instance (as their teenage pg rate is 1/5 of ours) sex is discussed more openly in families and in schools -it's seen in a much more 'functional' way, iykwim, so it doesn't seem as shrouded in mystery and glamorous to children & teenagers.

And cracking that one in this country is a huge thing and not something that can be done overnight. The images we have in the media; the way sex is seen and written about; the way sex is portrayed is all along the lines of it's either glamorous/aspirational/titilating or dirty/smutty/can't be discussed. A lot of european people I know would laugh at our view of sex and our hypocritical and conflicting 'morals'.

I'm a teacher myself; I don't teach sex ed but I know some that do... the most success is found in schools and with teachers who have a very 'open' attutitude to it - there are no barriers with the language the kids can use; the teacher tries to foster an atmosphere of informality and confidence with the pupils and they can talk openly about their thoughts, views and fears without having to worry about what others will think of them. But it's a difficult job getting the right teacher and the right environment/atmosphere. Many teachers have sex ed 'foisted' on them - they haven't been properly trained in a modern context; it's seen as a 2nd class subject in many schools and some teachers feel very uncomfortable teaching it. This is not helped by the fact that sex ed can be dipped out of if parents wish.

IMO sex ed has to have some standardisation; teachers need to be trained better; parents need to be confident that this is the case and so it can become compulsory; and the parents themselves should be offered guidance from the schools following on from the teachers' training in what they will be teaching and how it will be taught.

I also think that basic childcare / parenting should be part of every child's education - never mind 'citizenship' the way it is taught right now; and I include in that the basics of being able to run a home, look after finances and cook for yourself.

There! Rant over. Moomin for PM!

couldn't agree more moomin, esp with regards to standardisation of sex ed teaching. is there an argument for getting a special teacher in to do the sex ed?

I understand where everyone is coming from on this - but what annoys me to begin with are the bloody figures. The UK has a higher rate of conceptions than the rest of europe becasue many european conceptions are 'dealt' with quicker by things like the after sex pill (morning after pill) and more european teens have terminations that UK teens do - both these things are seen as the acceptable way of dealing with teenage pregnancy - whilst in this country our teenagers have to deal with all the stereotyping, homogenising and prejudice that surrounds them. They are slated for wanting to go on the pill, slated for wanting the after sex pill, slated for wanting terminations and slated for letting their pregnancies go to full term ... no wonder the poor buggers are confused!!!!!!

many schools, particularly in my local authority - have specialist oung peoples sexual health clinics and advisors. The amount of pressure that these workers get, not only from parents who are against them, but also from teachers who think that they shouldn't exist... is unbelievable. And then everybody complains about teenage pregnancy!!!!

oung = young

I had my 1st child when I was 15yrs old, and looking back 11yrs on it didnt have anything to do with being "poor" as I lived with my dad who was quite well off. My parents split when I was 7yrs and everything went down hill from there. I would say teens have babies as a result in emotional problems, and just want to love someone as they would like to be loved.

I think it is a combination of reasons - none of which can be easily changed and most of which have already been hit upon.
I am sure aspirations have alot to do with it, probably more so than actual household income. When your school & parents are encouraging you to go out there and make a career for yourself - getting landed with a baby is a distinct disadvantage.
I think parental influence must be one of the biggest factors. If you are taught to respect your body, not just have sex with the first boy who asks, taught that being grown up, mature & responsible will bring more enjoyment to your sex life. In my day the absolute fear of your parents reaction if you had to break the awful news was a serious disincentive - but I'm not sure that works these days!!!!
Our societal attitude to sex must also have alot ot do with it. We do have very odd & contradictory attitudes as a society generally towards sex.
Wish I had some solutions too!!!!!