LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX

SEX education needs to be brought more into the open and not be “provocative” - that’s the message given by Coventry’s children’s councillor.

It comes after the secretary of state for children, Ed Balls, announced compulsory sex ed classes for children aged 15 from 2011.

Currently parents have the right to pull their children out of classes until they are 19.

The change is to ensure pupils get at least 12 months of sex education before finishing schooling.

And Councillor John Blundell, cabinet member for children, learning and young people, has backed this but also said there needs to be a shake-up of how sex education is taught.

He said: “Currently the sex ed message is failing.

“The term is provocative and could be offensive to certain religious organisations.

“To me the discussion of relationships and the world at large is more important.

“Sex education needs to be a wider subject so it can prepare pupils to move on to the adult world.”

A pilot scheme, changing the way relationship and sex education classes are taught, should be finalised by the end of this month and carried out in four secondary schools across the city.

It comes after a 10 year government strategy costing £2.6 million to reduce teen pregnancy rates in Coventry failed.

During that time there was only a decrease of 1.7 per cent. In the same period towns such as Oldham and Southend slashed their numbers of teen mums by more than a quarter.

In 1998 there were 352 under 18s pregnant, this peaked to 381 in 2002.

And the latest figured also show teen pregnancies have been rising in the city for four consecutive years.

A Christmas and new year safer sex and alcohol campaign will be launched in early December to enforce the message that Coventry promotes safer sex.

A joint statement from Coventry City Council and NHS Coventry said: “We are confident that the measures we are putting into place will reduce the under-18’s conception rate.

“All of our work continues to be reviewed and influenced by what works elsewhere and by what young people and parents or carers are telling us.”l sh