Teenage pregnancies numbers fall in Guernsey

Teenage pregnancies in Guernsey fell by more than a third in 2009, compared to the year before.
There were 22 babies born to teenage mothers in the island during 2009, while there were 37 births in 2008.
The number of teenage abortions also decreased from 33 in 2008 to 22 last year.
Julie Duquemin, who teaches sexual relations and health in schools, said she believed education was a big factor in bringing the figures down.
She said: "I don't think you can stop young people from having sex if they choose to, however, you can teach them the consequences.
"You can teach them where to go for sexual health and advice and you can teach them the benefits of delaying that first sexual encounter so that they might prevent doing something that they regret later on."
It was a four year low for both figures, which peaked in 2008. (from BBC)


I say we should do it the Dutch way
Something's going on under that duvet... Cartoon masturbation on video, condom demos for 11 year olds, youth-club sex quizzes – it's all part of sex education in the Netherlands.
At first it makes buttoned-up Brits cringe, but the kind of sex education that many Dutch kids accept as normal is far more full-frontal than anything your teacher's likely to let you see in the UK.
Does it mean that Dutch teens are gagging to get out there and get at it? Not a bit of it. Most don't lose their virginity until they're around 17, and the Netherlands has the lowest number of teenage pregnancies in Europe

What is it that makes some Dutch sex education so effective? Crucially, they focus on helping young people make responsible decisions about relationships and sex, with the emphasis on mutual respect. Yes, Dutch kids learn the biological bit in detail, but they also spend loads of class-time discussing values and attitudes, and finding out how to decide when's the right time for them, as individuals, to start having sex.


Learning starts young, and everything is covered without embarrassment, from what it's like to fall in love, to same-sex relationships, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and sexual abuse. It's all very open and upfront and, most important of all, it's in touch with the realities of teenagers' lives.


Holland started getting a grip on sex education in the 1980s, when Aids first became a threat. Dutch authorities created a package of textbooks, videos, and other resources, which are used in most schools. Although there's no national curriculum, sex education is compulsory in all Dutch secondary schools and over half the country's primary schools put sex and relationships on the agenda too, for kids from the age of six. For the Dutch sex is a normal, everyday subject, and it's there on the main timetable alongside maths and PE.

Lets get out of this victorian way of sex education, and bring our youngsters into the 21st reality...

wow, i'm speechless about how they do it in the NL.