Sex education - Time to end the taboo in our schools

When it comes to sexual matters the Dutch have a reputation of being very liberal.

The Netherlands, in a sense, is seen as the prototype of the permissive society, in Europe at any rate.

Behind the liberal facade, however, there is another story. The Dutch have not only one of the lowest teenage birth rates, but also one of the lowest abortion rates among teenagers, and the highest age for first-time sex in the world. It also has a long tradition of early sex education.

In this country, a politician once famously complained there was no sex before the advent of television. It goes without saying the remark was absurd but it would have been essentially true if the politician had said there was no open discussion of sexual matters before the arrival of television.

There was a phenomenal ignorance about sexual matters, because our educational system considered this a taboo subject. It was not a healthy situation.

A total of 2,427 teenagers gave birth in this country in 2005. Almost three-quarters of those were young women aged 18 or 19, which means, of course, that more than a quarter were under 18.

Sex education is not just about avoiding unwanted pregnancies. There is also the issue of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Teenagers accounted for 11% of the notified STIs in 2005, while people in their 20s made up more than 63%. Those figures would seem to suggest that young people are getting through their teenage years relatively unscathed, but then entering the next phase of their lives without the proper knowledge to equip them for a period of more intense sexual activity.

Less than half of the 25-year-olds surveyed admitted to having had any education on safe sex, and that percentage gets worse among older people. For instance, only one in eight people in the 40 to 44 age bracket said that they had any education about safe sex and STIs. These are the parents of today’s teenagers, with the result that the ignorance tends to perpetuate itself.

The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) has begun a Speakeasy programme designed to inform parents on the best means of talking to their children about sexual matters.

The majority of 17-year-old females seeking contraceptive advice admit to having first had sex at 16, which means that they had waited about a year before they felt able to seek guidance. There is an obvious need for proper advice, but the politicians are passing the parcel.

Barry Andrew, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, says sex education is an issue for the Department of Education. Although the department requires that secondary schools teach Relationships and Sexuality Education, it is essentially up to individual schools how the subject is actually covered.

The subject is apparently not getting the attention it deserves, but that is hardly surprising when so much of the focus is on Leaving Certificate points. Surely such an important aspect of life should be a component of a life skills course that ought to be a fundamental part of secondary education?