AFRO-NETS> (UK) Government urges under-16s to experiment with oral sex

[A Odutola <chpss_abo@yahoo.com>]

(UK) Government urges under-16s to experiment with oral sex
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The report below is for information and comments, Re: Approaches to 
combating teenage pregnancy and promoting safe and responsible ado-
lescent reproductive health in African communities.

A. Odutola
CHPSS, Lagos, Nigeria
mailto:chpss_abo@yahoo.com


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(UK) Government urges under-16s to experiment with oral sex
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-585546,00.html

TimesOnline
Feb. 21, 2003

By Glen Owen, Education Correspondent

A Government-backed course is encouraging pupils under 16 to experi-
ment with oral sex, as part of a drive to cut rates of teenage preg-
nancy. 

Family campaigners believe that the course, called 'A Pause', is hav-
ing the reverse effect by exciting the sexual interest of children. 

The scheme, which has been pioneered by Exeter University and is 
backed by the Departments of Health and Education, trains teachers to 
discuss various pre-sex ?stopping points? with under-age teenagers. 

It aims to reduce promiscuity by encouraging pupils to discover ?lev-
els of intimacy?, including oral sex, instead of full sexual inter-
course. 

More than 100,000 children are now taking the course at one in every 
thirty secondary schools. It forms part of efforts to tackle Brit-
ain?s teenage pregnancy rate, which is the highest in Western Europe. 
Robert Whelan, director of the Family Education Trust, said he hoped 
that the Sexual Offences Bill, currently going through the House of 
Lords, would lead to the course being banned. A provision in the Bill 
would make it an offence for anyone to ?arrange or facilitate the 
commission of a child sex offence?. He said: ?I don?t think anyone 
believes that teaching pupils about oral sex will stop them having 
full sex  it is more likely to make them want to try it, and it 
doesn?t protect them from sexually transmitted diseases.? 

John Rees, programme manager for 'A Pause', said that he was keen to 
teach children that ?it is acceptable simply to hold hands? and to 
discover different levels of intimacy. 

?We make it clear that there are many ways to manage relationships  
that it doesn?t all have to be about full sex,? he said. He added 
that he was ?very worried? that the Bill would end the scheme. 

Lynda Brine, a teacher from a Doncaster comprehensive who recently 
attended a training day for the course, says in today?s Times Educa-
tional Supplement that she was primed to deal with detailed questions 
about oral and anal sex. ?I was amazed. Are these really the sort of 
questions to which we as a profession should be responding?? she 
writes. 

?There was no framework for talking about responsibility or the emo-
tional side of relationships. By following this course, I feel that 
teachers are implicitly supporting under-age sexual activity.?

Copyright 2003 Times Newspapers Ltd. Reproduced as "fair use" 

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