Teen pregnancies increase after sex education classes

Teenage pregnancies have risen fastest in areas of the country where the Government has specifically targeted resources to reduce them, a new survey has revealed.

The report, to be published tomorrow, says that the explicit sex education leaflets and free condoms provided to under-age girls by the Government schemes have simply encouraged them to have sex.

The report, Sex Education or Indoctrination?, from the Family Education Trust, an independent think-tank, claims that there is a direct link between giving young people such sex education and a rise in live births.

Official figures released last week showed that teenage pregnancies in England rose year-on-year by more than 800, despite the £15 million spent by the Government on strategies to reduce them.

There has also been a 62 per cent increase in the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases among young people aged 19 and under, rising from 25,143 cases in 1997 to 40,821 in 2002.

The Government's Teenage Pregnancy Unit, established in 1999, said that pregnancies among under-18s rose from 38,439 in 2001, of which 46 per cent were aborted, to 39,286 in 2002. Abortion statistics for 2002 are not yet available. The figures relate to pregnancies among 15- to 17-year-olds - no national statistics are kept on girls of 14 and below.

Teenage pregnancy rates in Britain remain the highest in western Europe. One in every 10 babies born in England is to a teenage mother.

The Government's aim is to reduce teenage pregnancies by 50 per cent by 2010, with an interim target of a 15 per cent reduction by the end of this year.

The Family Education Trust report analyses areas where the Teenage Pregnancy Unit have set up programmes to reduce the number of girls falling pregnant. The unit's strategy involves more explicit sex education in schools, often conducted by nurses without teachers present; free condoms; and sending birthday cards when girls reach 14 asking them to attend confidential health checks without their parents.

The trust discovered, however, that in most places the strategy had backfired. According to the Government figures, one target area, Cornwall, saw a 17 per cent rise in teenage pregnancies between 2001 and 2002 (from 306 to 359); Torbay rose 22 per cent (from 92 to 113); and Haringey eight per cent (from 281 to 310). In York teenage pregnancies rose by 34 per cent (from 93 to 125) over the same period and in Solihull by 17 per cent (from 121 to 142).

In some targeted areas, there was a decrease. In Rotherham pregnancies decreased by eight per cent (from 258 to 235) and in Bury by three per cent (from 156 to 150).

The author of the report, Valerie Riches, a former social worker, said: "The Government's teenage pregnancy strategy is based on the premise that it is unrealistic to expect young people to abstain from sex. They have embarked on a damage-limitation exercise dependent on condom use and the use of the morning-after pill.

"The figures show, however, that it might be wiser to support the majority in abstinence and demonstrate to the minority the physical, emotional and psychological benefits of delaying sex until marriage."

She is deeply critical of the material used by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit, especially of a guide for girls produced by the Family Planning Association, a charity that is partly funded by the Government.

One guide, called "4 Girls", tells teenagers how to obtain contraception, explains sexually transmitted diseases, and gives reassuring advice about sex. Another leaflet tells young girls: "Contraceptive advice and supplies are free to everyone. It doesn't matter how old you are . . . there's no right age to have sex."

Mrs Riches said: "The Family Planning Association sows confusion in a child's mind about right and wrong and presents only one moral absolute - the use of condoms."

The report points out that the promotion of abstinence among young people in America has lead to a drop in teenage pregnancies by 10 per cent.

Anne Weyman, the chief executive of the FPA, defended her charity's advice. She said: "Good sex and relationships education is most effective as a multi-faceted approach, from within home, school and healthcare settings.

"Studies have shown that abstinence education doesn't work, it makes young people more vulnerable, because they don't have the knowledge to protect themselves against pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections."

A spokesman for Cathy Hamlyn, the head of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit, part of the Department for Education and Skills, said: "The teenage pregnancy strategy is the first cross-government strategy to tackle our unacceptably high rates of teenage pregnancy.

"The strategy helps people to resist pressure to have early sex through improved sex and relationship education and supporting parents in talking to children about these issues."