It is a heady brew mixing religion with sociology, family, education, lifestyle,
peer pressure and freedom of choice.
Britain has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe and data
released last week showed that abortion rates are on the rise, particularly
among teenagers.
And with the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases reaching epidemic
levels and far exceeding that of any other country in western Europe,
policymakers, parents, youth leaders and doctors are demanding action.
"There is definitely a sense now that this is desperate and people are asking
what are we going to do about it," said Chris Richards, a consultant
paediatrician and committed Christian who runs Lovewise, a group promoting
teenage sexual abstinence.
The desperation he describes has helped launch U.S.-style abstinence projects
in Britain over the past three years such as Lovewise, the Romance Academy, and
the Silver Ring Thing, in which teenagers pledge to remain chaste until they
wed.
Such groups have been given a publicity boost in recent weeks by the case of
Lydia Playfoot, a 16-year-old who has taken her school to court over its
decision to ban her from wearing her "silver ring" symbolising her chastity
pledge.
And despite U.S. studies showing the groups have little impact, abstinence
campaigners say a "no sex" alternative to traditional sex education is vital
for Britain.
Andy Robinson, UK director of the Silver Ring Thing, said although few
teenagers are yet signing up to programmes -- probably less than a thousand in
total -- he is certain abstinence, not safe sex, is the way to help young
people lead happier adult lives.
No Sex Please, We're Teenagers
"I have seen and heard from many teenagers with terrible stories of regret," he
told Reuters. "In our schools they teach that it is inevitable that every child
will be having sex outside of marriage. And then we as a society give them all
of the tools they need to make that inevitability happen.
"We believe we should also give them the tools that they need to say no to sex
if they want to."
Abstinence programmes first crossed the Atlantic in 2004, when 30 American
virgins from The Silver Ring Thing flew over to run roadshows telling British
teenagers about the potential dangers of pre-marital sex.
In an interview with Reuters at the time, the Silver Ring Thing's U.S.
director, Denny Pattyn, said the results of traditional sex education had been
"disastrous".
"In America we have kids who have oral sex with six people in one night. It's
called the train -- the girl goes down the train -- it's just casual,
recreational sex," he said.
Then in 2005 a BBC television show entitled "No sex please, we're teenagers"
marked the launch of the Romance Academy, a home-grown teenage chastity
project.
Rachael Matthews, a founding member, said her group is unashamedly religious,
but often engages non-church-going teenagers in its programmes.
Sex Education Not Enough
"We try to be inclusive and not judgmental, but at the same time we like to
maintain the value of our message," she said.
"Our mission statement is rooted in the sanctity of marriage and sex, and that
is a view shared by other religions as well."
But Rebecca Findlay of the Family Planning Association (FPA) said proper sex
education -- including learning about respect, relationships, contraception and
abstinence -- is vital.
"All the international research shows that the more sex education you give
young people, the more likely they are not to engage in early sexual activity,"
she told Reuters.
"Sex and relationship education should be aimed at letting young people make a
reasoned and informed choice -- whether that be to have sex right away or to
delay it."
Findlay feared some abstinence programmes gave inaccurate information to
children about sex. "These programmes are very often linked to the agenda of
the (American) Christian right, which we simply don't have here as a political
or cultural phenomenon."
And data from the United States suggests more than 80 percent of teenagers who
make a chastity pledge go on to break it before marriage, burdening young
people with sexual guilt as they embark on their adult life, she said. "We have
to question how that is dealt with by these organisations."
But for David Paton, an economics professor at Nottingham University, the grim
reality is that neither abstinence nor sex education is having any significant
impact on teenage sex.
"We have to look at much deeper economic and social characteristics," he said.
"There are some very big factors that have an impact on teenage pregnancy rates
-- things like poverty, religion, family breakdown, life opportunities -- and
it's very hard to trump those with a few sex education lessons."
Reuters
