British teen-age sex report causes uproar

Press, 1 October 1979, Page 14

British teen-age sex report causes uproar

By KEN COATES in London A recent Governmentfinanced report on pregnant schoolgirls has caused a storm of protest in Britain, It suggested lowering the age of consent, at present 16. This has provoked widespread public discussion of teen-age sexual behaviour.

A recently published survey said that one teenager in every five had sexual intercourse before the age of 16; and that two Out of three girls and three out of four boys were sexually experienced by the time they were 19. The same day the report on schoolgirl pregnancies hit the headlines, a report was published of a British girl, aged 15, giving birth to a baby on a jet aircraft over the Atlantic.

Then there was the story of a girl, aged 11, who, a court was told, had been to bed with 12 men before tempting a bus conductor. aged 29, who was charged with having unlawful sexual intercourse with her.

More explicitly treated publicly than in New Zealand, especially by the popular national newstion — teen-agers and sex which are not above question —teen-agers and sex is a subject under increasingly close scrutiny. It is being discussed endlessly, together with the often traumatic results for young people and parents. on radio and on television.

When ITV returns to the screens, "Two People,” abctut two schoolchildren, aged 15. making love to each other will be shown.

The girl, daughter of a successful businessman, runs away after her parents discover that she is on the pill and sleeping

with her boyfriend. The story unfolds over six one-hour episodes while helpless parents look on in anguish. London Weekend says it wants parents to watch with their teen-agers and discuss the issues. But there is criticism of sex education in schools which consists of teachers limiting themselves to physical aspects, without any reference to emotions, family life, and personal development. There is also criticism of pulp magazines aimed specifically at adolescents.

The “Daily Express” says the change in Britain's sexual climate is

accelerating quickly — “so fast that worried parents, raised in the orderly traditions of the Church, are left bewildered and confused about the sexual temptations being thrust on their adolescent children.”

The newspaper asks whether it is right that teen-agers should be told that sex is sinful at 13 but perfectly legitimate four years later.

It goes so far as to say that the fact the question has to be asked at all “is mute testament to the strength of dedicated forces chipping away at the very fabric of our society.”