Cindy-Lou Dale

Six years ago in Britain, after the under-18 conception rate had hit an all-time high of 46.6 per 1,000 girls, the Government launched a £138-million campaign to bring that rate down to 39.6 by 2004 and 23.3 by 2010.  

 

·         One in every 10 babies born in England is to a teenage mother.

·         Teenage pregnancies in England rose year-on-year by more than 800, despite the millions spent by the Government on strategies to reduce them.

·         In 1997 25,143 under 19 year-old teens became pregnant rising 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. These figures relate to pregnancies among 15 to 17 year-olds - no national statistics are kept on girls below 14.

 

Casual sex is fast becoming a profound threat to young people - in a culture where teens get graphic sexual guidance from magazines. Films and television treat sex as a leisure-time activity outside committed relationships; and many parents neglect to speak of these issues at home. This ‘moral void’ will finally overwhelm an entire generation in unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases - unless there is a fundamental change in Government policy pooled with greater parental responsibility. This is the conclusion of a new report questioning more than two thousand 13-15 year-olds on underage sex, compiled for the Lords and Commons Family and Child Protection Group.

 

Researchers claim that married parents, who take more responsibility and communicate effectively, are least likely to have sexually active teenagers. So while children do grow up in a world where having sex with a casual acquaintance is regularly depicted in films, video and soap operas, its parental influence that can make all the difference. However, the role the media has to play cannot be ruled out. “As this report reveals,” said Gerald Howarth MP, “magazines preoccupied with sex and claiming to be aimed at young adults are being read by significant numbers of children - as young as 13.” Some of those responsible for issuing such material are either ignorant to its nature, or are indifferent to exploiting vulnerable young people for commercial gain.

 

The study began in 1999 when the Family Matters Institute investigated the social influences on teen pregnancy in the UK who currently has the second highest teenage pregnancy rate in the western world. The findings were published in a report which claimed 17% of 13 to 15 year-olds were sexually active. “As a country we can't afford to continue to ignore this shameful record,” says Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Pilot studies for this report and other academic research showed that a key area needing further study was the family background and parental relationships of youngsters engaging in underage sex.

 

The report found that the home environment is the most important influence determining whether young teenagers are sexually active or not. “It is essential,’ say researchers, ‘to teach children that marriage is the ideal”.

 

Care must be taken not to condemn those nurtured in other types of family life, with extra pastoral support being offered to such schoolchildren. Sex education should be taught with insightful care and in the framework of trusting relationships.

 

Some of the key findings of the report are as follows:

 

·   Nearly half of sexually active 13-15 year olds have never discussed the subject of sex with either of their parents;

·   When it comes to teenagers’ leisure time, 65% of sexually active 13-15 year old girls ‘just hang around outside’, 28% go clubbing and 18% go to pubs;

·   One in five young teenagers claim to have lost their virginity when they were drunk;

·   Having four or more sexual partners is the experience of one-quarter of sexually active 13 year-old boys and girls;

·   Only 8% of sexually active 13-15 year old boys receive guidelines on relationships from their parents;

·   Sexually transmitted diseases have significantly increased among the young teens.

 

According to the researchers, when parents are married, show realistic concern for their youngsters, keep an eye on their activities and set behavioural guidelines, they create a family environment in which teenage sexual activity is dramatically reduced. In addition, they found the occurrence of underage sex is further reduced where parents are religious or hold unmistakable standards of morality. Overall, religious parents appear to have better relationships with their teenagers than non-religious parents. The study shows that mothers and fathers can further assist by:

 

·   Increasing and improving the level of communication with their adolescent children;

·   Taking a greater interest in the leisure activities of their children;

·   Exercising greater constraint on their teenage children’s freedom of choice in regard to friendships, the places they go to, what they watch on television and the magazines they read;

·   Discussing questions of morality with their children to help them form their own principles regarding social and familial values, including sexual behaviour. Researchers claim their work shows that the key to reducing underage sex - and thereby cutting the rate of unwanted teenage pregnancies - lies very firmly in the hands of parents to create the right family environment of protectiveness, love and trust. Until the parents of young teenagers begin to take more responsibility for their children’s behaviour, the level of underage sex will not decline and teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases will continue to rise.

 

The report issued a stark warning. “With the rapidly growing culture of casual sex among teenagers, with young girls especially at risk from older male predators, the statistics indicate that Britain will soon be engulfed in an epidemic of sexually transmitted infections.”

 

A teen mind…   Those with the highest aspirations have the least arguments with their parents; Parents of young teenagers who've already decided their teenagers would stay in further education beyond school leaving age are significantly more protective than the parents of those expecting to leave school at 16. They exercise more rules and restrictions over where their youngsters are allowed to go and who they meet;

A teen temperament…   14% of girls and 10% of boys (who have not had sex) say they spend most of their leisure time with their families, in striking contrast to those who have had sex where only 1% of girls and 0% of boys spend time with the family; Girls tend to have more arguments with their parents than boys, especially when it comes to boyfriends. But girls who are sexually active are four times as likely to be involved in rows with their parents over boyfriends as girls who are virgins;

And God…   Religious parents are almost twice as likely to exercise restrictions over the programmes and films watched by their children; Religious parents appear to have better relationships with their young teenagers than non-religious parents and spend more time with them. The report’s findings reveal a basic flaw in the fabric of British family life, and send out a challenge to every parent, guardian, carer and youth worker - to exercise a strong yet sensitive pastoral role in the complex lives of those young people in their care.

 

Many boys lack a role model of a father and are likely to find difficulty in developing stable relationships with members of the opposite sex. It is also likely to be an obstruction to successful parenting. The absent father is a social problem within society and a fundamental factor behind the behavioural patterns of many teenagers today. If levels of underage sexual intercourse are to be cut, it is vital for parents to discuss issues surrounding sex and morality with their children. This will encourage young people to form their own principles or morality and personal persuasions regarding social and familial values, including sexual behaviour.

 

Gerald Howarth MP said that the report reasserts the ‘crucial role’ of parents and family life in influential young peoples lives. “Every study has shown incontrovertibly that marriage and stable family life provide the best framework for bringing up children”.

 

A spokesman from the Department of Education & Skills spoke of the Governments strategy regards teenage pregnancy. “We aim to tackle high levels of teenage pregnancy by helping young people to resist pressure to have sex, improving sex and relationship education and supporting parents to talk to their children about sex and relationships without embarrassment. It is a ten year strategy based on strong international evidence of what works - and we know it takes time to make the attitudinal and behavioural changes required.  Just a 10% reduction in rates in hard-to-crack areas would contribute to a 5% reduction in the national rate. That is why we are putting in place our hotspot strategy working closely with local areas to intensify the programme to reach teenagers most at risk.”  

   

To make this happen in the hotspots, the Department of Education needs to train midwives, health visitors, Connexions PAs and Sure Start workers to support those who are already teenage mothers to avoid second unplanned pregnancies. Around 20% of births conceived to under-18s are second pregnancies.  It's also important that training and opportunities that enhance life chances are available for these young mother’s and their children.

 

·         Targeting the Governments specialist PSHE programme to school nurses and PSHE teachers;

·         Using Parenting Fund money to support parents to talk more confidently  to their children about relationships and sex through the speakeasy programme;

·          Improving at risk teenagers' access to sound sexual health advice, provided in easily accessible local settings.

The strategy has a multi-faceted approach which includes helping young people resist pressure to have early sex through improved sex and relationship education and supporting parents in talking to their children about these issues; increasing uptake of contraceptive advice by sexually active teenagers; and supporting young parents to improve the health and social outcomes for them and their children.

 

“Involving parents in prevention is an important strand of our teenage pregnancy strategy.  We regularly consult with parents through a Parents Panel organised by the National Family and Parenting Institute (NFPI). We also support the Time to Talk media initiative, run by Parentline Plus, aimed at helping parents talk to their children about sex and relationships”, said the spokesman for the DfES.

 

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(c) Cindy-Lou Dale 2005