英青少年關心如何爲人父母勝過如何性交
Teenagers would rather be taught about family values than about sex, a survey has found.
They see the responsibilities of being a parent as the number one ‘fact of life’ – ahead of sexual intercourse, contraception and sexually-transmitted infections.
The findings suggest the current emphasis in schools on the mechanics of sexual intercourse including how to use a condom does not match the priorities of youngsters.
Nearly half of girls say they want sex education to focus on the consequences of pregnancy, not the biology of sex.
The survey of 13 to 16-year-olds also found that more than a third of boys want to know what ‘being a parent’ is all about and that no issue was deemed more important by so many.
Experts from Hull University said they were surprised the majority of teenagers they surveyed support ‘moral’ ideas about having sex.
Most believe their first sexual relationship should be special and that sex should only take place in long-term serious relationships.
The survey was carried out by Dr Julie Jomeen and Dr Clare Whitfield of the university’s faculty of health and social care.
Dr Jomeen said the findings were important because a national strategy to cut teenage pregnancy had failed, while sexually-transmitted infections among young people are rising.
Labour pledged in vain to halve the rate of teenage pregnancy while in government – spending £246million in pursuit of its target – and the UK still has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Europe.
Dr Jomeen said: ‘There is quite clearly sexual activity in school age children.
The survey of sex and relationships among 2,036 teenagers from nine schools in both affluent and deprived areas found 46 per cent of girls and 38 per cent of boys rated being a parent as the most important topic to know more about.
In second place for girls was the morning after pill, with 41 per cent wanting to learn more, while 34 per cent of boys wanted more information about sexual intercourse.
一項調查發現，英國青少年更想多學習一些有關家庭價值觀的知識而非性知識。
他們認爲作爲父母的責任是最要緊的“性知識”，比性交、避孕和性傳染病的知識都更重要。
這一調查結果表明學校當前性教育的重點是性交學，包括如何使用避孕套，但這並不是青少年最想了解的。
近一半的女孩說她們希望能夠把性教育的重點放在懷孕的後果上，而不是性生理知識。
這一調查面向的是13歲到16歲的青少年，調查還發現超過三分之一的男孩想知道“爲人父母”是怎麼一回事，許多人認爲這比任何其他事情都重要。
來自赫爾大學的專家說，他們調查的大部分青少年都支持有關性行爲的“道德”觀念，這讓他們感到驚訝。
大多數青少年認爲第一次性關係應該是有特殊意義的，只有在長期的認真的感情關係中才可以發生性行爲。
赫爾大學健康與社會保健學院的朱莉•喬敏博士和克萊爾•惠特菲爾德博士開展了這一調查。
喬敏博士說這一調查發現很重要，因爲一項旨在減少青少年懷孕比例的國家策略以失敗告終，而年輕人染上性傳播疾病的比例卻在升高。
工黨在執政期間曾許諾要將青少年懷孕率減半，併爲實現這一目標花費了2.46億英鎊，但是最後落空了，英國青少年的懷孕比例依然是全歐洲最高的。
喬敏博士說：“學齡兒童會發生性行爲，這是顯而易見的。”
這一關於性和感情關係的調查涵蓋了來自9所學校的2036名青少年，這9所學校既有分佈在富裕地區的，也有位於貧困地區的。調查發現，46%的女孩和38%的男孩認爲“爲人父母”是他們最需要多一些瞭解的。
女孩們認爲第二重要的是有關緊急避孕藥的知識，41%的女孩想在這方面瞭解更多，而34%的男孩想知道更多關於性交的信息。
Vocabulary:
facts of life: the sexual activity of conceiving and bearing offspring（性知識；生殖功能，尤指對兒童講的，通常使用複數形式）
deprived: without enough food, education, and all the things that are necessary for people to live a happy and comfortable life（貧窮的；貧困的；窮苦的）
morning after pill: a drug that a woman can take some hours after having sex in order to avoid becoming pregnant （房事後服用的）女用口服避孕丸，緊急避孕藥
