Sex lessons fail to cutpregnancy

INCREASING sex education and the availability of contraceptiveshas failed to turn the tide of teenage pregnancies and sexually-transmitted infections, a leading GP claimed yesterday, writes AlanMacDermid, Medical Correspondent.

Instead, said Dr Trevor Stammers, the UK has the highest teenageconception rate in Europe, with more than 8000 unplanned pregnanciesamong under-16s each year, half of them ending in abortion.

Official statistics list under-age pregnancies among 13 to 15-year-olds - pregnancies in this age group peaked this decade inScotland at 927 (9.7 per 1000) in 1997. But the problem has beenhighlighted recently by pregnancies among 12-year-olds, including agirl who received money from the Roman Catholic Church's fund tosupport expectant mothers who might otherwise have a termination.

Dr Stammers rails in the Postgraduate Medical Journal against theassumption that sex lessons and contraceptives are the answer tounder-age sex.

This standard tactic, says the London GP and tutor in generalpractice at St George's Hospital, Tooting, is treating a symptomrather than a cause; it does not address the issue of why teenagersare having early and unprotected sex.

"Much teenage sexual activity has little to do with sex," DrStammers claims. Instead, he says, it is often a search for love andmeaning, and can also be an expression of anger or frustration, orattention-seeking behaviour.

Also, he says, the pressures encouraging teenagers to have sexhave never been greater - "Cinema, television, pop music, videos,the Internet, CD-ROMs, novels and teen magazines unite in projectingsex as a 'must have' status symbol and the primary reason forliving."

He cites research showing that high self-esteem, good schoolperformance, a father at home and parental input about sexeducation, all delay the age at which teenagers first have sex.

The promotion of contraceptive use alone does not work either,suggests Dr Stammers. Condoms also have a substantial failure rate,especially among inexperienced users. A 1995 British national surveyof sexual behaviour found a strong association between increasinguse of condoms and higher rates of teen pregnancy. Sex education atschool, says Dr Stammers, may delay the age at which boys first havesex, but it doesn't make any difference to the age at which girlsfirst do so.

"The tragic legacy of teenage heartache, disillusionment andcynicism also has to be taken into account," he adds.