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Friday, November 28, 2008

America would freak out

Article: Sex Education: why the British should go Dutch.

"Britain's Schools Minister plans to introduce sex lessons for five-year-olds. They already have them in the Netherlands. Is that why they also have the lowest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe?"
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"Next year, 12-year-old Sasha explains to me, they will learn how to put a condom on a broomstick (she says this without a trace of embarrassment, just a polite smile). Across the city, nine-year-old Marcus, who lives in a beautiful 18th-century house on a canal, has been watching a cartoon showing him how to masturbate. His sister, 11, has been writing an essay on reproduction and knows that it is legal for two consenting 12-year-olds to make love. Her favourite magazine, Girls, gives advice on techniques in bed, and her parents sometimes allow her to stay up to see a baby being born on the birthing channel. "
.......
"This openness seems to work. In Britain the average teenager loses his or her virginity at 16 - more than a year before the Dutch average of 17.7 years. About 93 per cent of young people in the Netherlands use contraception, compared with 53 per cent in Britain. A study of teenagers in both countries found that while boys and girls in the Netherlands gave “love and commitment” as the main reason for losing their virginity, boys in Britain cited peer pressure and physical attraction. "

Here's the entire article. It's really interesting and you should read the whole thing.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i was watching "love actually" last night and i thought that it was a fair representation of what the British think about sex & sexuality. it may not be as open in the mainstream media but it is talked about in the homes through socialization of parents.