Human relationships education urged

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32885, 7 April 1972, Page 9

Human relationships education urged

(N.Z. Press Assn. —Copyright; LONDON, April 6. A special study group of British doctors has called for greater education in “human relationships” to overcome a rapid increase in teenage pregnancies. The rate of unplanned pregnancies was increasing, particularly among unmarried girls under 20, said the re-

port of a Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists working party into unplanned pregnancy. Sex education in schools should be given as an integral part of health educational programmes designed to include the principles of healthy living and responsibilities in all human relationships, the working party said. It was known that sexual intercourse among younger unmarried people intending marriage or involved in a

• stable relationship was becoming more frequent, the report said. But, it added, “there are . gaps in our knowledge of the [ long-term consequences of more casual relationships in . the very young.” There was no evidence that such relationships improved , the chances of a successful marriage later on, and much : evidence of possible physical . and emotional harm. “There is currently great i emphasis on the need for 1 more sex education to improve the understanding of young people about the role ■of sexual intercourse and human relations generally," it said. “A reduction in the incidence of unplanned pregnancy may follow a wider and deeper understanding of sexuality." However, it added, there was an almost total lack of information about the. effectiveness of sex education programmes, and it could be that sex education, wrongly presented by unsuitable people, encouraged experimentation in sex rather than promoted a more responsible approach. The report noted great pressures on the young from mass media, and a decrease in parental responsibility and Control coupled with greater unsupervised leisure, encouraged greater frequency in sexual intercourse amongst teen-agers. The long-term answer would not come from either abortion or contraception, the report said. It called for “education into a greater sense of responsibility in human relationships and caring concern in emotional situations, not only for i the adolescents but also for ' the adult members of the 1 community." i