Influential government advisers are calling for frank discussions on sexual pleasure to form a central part of a new teenage pregnancy strategy.
Pupils in sex education class. Credit: Martin Bird.
The current strategy, launched in 1999, expires next year but ministers are yet to announce what will replace it.
Gill Frances, chair of the Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group (TPIAG), told CYP Now discussions on sexual pleasure help children realise sex should be enjoyed, allowing them to take responsibility for decisions and recognise issues around coercive sex.
She is also calling for closer monitoring of primary care trusts and strategic health authorities to ensure money handed to them for contraception services is spent as intended.
Simon Blake, chief executive at sex advice charity Brook and also a member of TPIAG, said sexual pleasure is one of three areas the government must focus on.
"We need a grown-up conversation with young people," he said. "We need to make sure they are having sex when they are ready and for the right reasons, are able to enjoy it and take responsibility for it."
Blake added that sex education must start to be delivered based on gender as boys and girls have different perceptions and pressures in relation to sex as they develop.
In July, an NHS Sheffield guidance booklet that encouraged professionals to talk about sexual pleasure to young people provoked a debate between health and faith groups.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said it had no update on the teenage pregnancy strategy.
I don't see how talking about sexual pleasure with young people is in anyway immoral or irreligious. This is about teaching young people that sex should be pleasurable and that sex can be amazing. We should be talking about this in the context of intimate and trusting relationships: this might mean marriage but it might not.
Pleasurable sex for young people is more likely to be consensual, safe, considered and, in my view, it is more likely to contribute to long-term loving relationships. Teaching them how to understand how their bodies work and arousal and sensuality just makes sense.
Sex education doesn't work if we only say 'don't do it' or 'if you are going to do it at least use a condom': we have to teach them everything. Both because it will result in the best outcomes but also because it's the right thing to do.
My website for young people does not shy away from these areas; have a look and see.
Bish
Where is the ethical and moral consideration in this discussion? Taking this debate EXCLUSIVELY outside of religious connotation, has society become so rigid and politically correct that we loose purpose and meaning? What is the real taboo here or are we all too apathetic and afraid to say?
If we want to have discussions about adult themes, then let's discuss them as adults!
Salaam
Islam forbids any kind of relationship between opposit sex before marriage.According to official figures, nearly half of babies are now born out of wedlock. They are more likely to suffer social.mental and emotional problems. Researchers have revealed the migrants in Britain are more likely to have children within marriage. If Muslim children keep on attending state schools with non-Muslim monolingual teachers than there is a possibility that teenage Muslim girls will have children out of wedlock. Pregnancy rate has been falling in Luton for the last five years. It is not due to better sex education. The main reason is the presence of Muslim population who does not allow their sons and daughter to engage in sexual activities before marriage. It is against the traditions and values of Islam. On the whole the pregnancy rate is increasing, inspite of sex education even at primary levels. To reduce the rate of pregnancies, there is no alternative but to allow girls to be married at the age of 12, otherwise, the rate of pregnancy will go on increasing.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk
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