'Sex is okay' message is wrong

Schools must do more to counter the message peddled by teenage magazines that under-age sex is normal, the schools watchdog said today.

As fewer teenagers get advice about relationships and the facts of life from their parents, magazines are filling the gap, bombarding youngsters with stories about sex and adding to peer pressure to engage in sex at an early age.

Schools are proving effective at teaching the mechanics of sex education, the report by watchdog Ofsted said. But teachers find it as difficult as parents to "engage" with children about their emotional lives.

"The result is that too many teenagers get the message from magazines and TV programmes that teenage sex is normal, that everyone is 'at it' and that they should be too," said an Ofsted spokesman.

"Youngsters need education not just about the mechanics of sex and contraception, but about relationships and their emotional lives. That is where teachers need to fill the gap."

Today's report comes against the background of rising concern about teenage sex, with the Government planning a multi-million-pound information campaign later this year about sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV and Aids.

The UK has the highest teenage birth rate in western Europe. Each year in England, 90,000 girls conceive. Of these, around 7,700 are under 16 and 2,200 under 14.

Half of under-16s who are sexually active do not use contraception the first time they have sex and are at increasing risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

But despite these statistics, more than seven out of 10 under-16s do not have sex - despite the prevalence of advice on the subject in magazines targeting the age group - and the great majority of girls reach their twenties without becoming pregnant.

"While many magazines now stress the importance of safe sex, the underlying, but inaccurate, message sometimes seems to be that all young people are sexually active," the report said. The study, which included interviews with 650 teenagers, found parents were their "main source of information on sexual matters" for fewer than one in five.

Inspectors praised the majority of schools for their teaching about sex, sexual health and the law, reporting a "poor" result in one in five lessons.

They said that education about parenthood and the emotional side of relationships was less effective. Boys, in particular, did not feel that much was relevant to them in lessons about sex and relationships.

Comments from teenage pupils in the survey included a 15-year-old girl who said: "We are taught about reproduction but not about being in a loving relationship. It's no wonder that some don't use condoms."

A 15-year-old boy said: "We never talk about homosexuality. There are over 1,000 boys in this school and it must be an issue for some of them. But the staff seem scared to talk about it."

One 16-year-old boy said: "Most of what we do is for the girls - it's all about what happens to them. No one tells the boys what responsibilities they have."

The study also found worrying evidence that education about HIV and Aids is receiving less attention than in the past, even though it remained a "significant" health problem.

"Young people perceive it as less of a concern and this is contributing to the lack of use of condoms by those who are sexually active," the report said.

Chief schools inspector Mike Tomlinson said: "Sex and relationship education is relevant to all pupils. It is not just about academic learning. It is potentially about our pupils' health and wellbeing for the rest of their lives."

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