[Cool Teen Sites]
Tuesday, 10 October, 2000, 09:58 GMT 10:58 UK
Government 'to promote virginity'
The UK has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe
The government is to launch an advertising campaign to encourage teenagers to remain
virgins.
The controversial campaign, to be launched before the end of the year, will encourage
young girls and boys to resist peer pressure to have sex.
It will include slogans such as "Sex - are you thinking about it enough?"
But the Department of Health denied a newspaper report that its slogan would be "It's
okay to be a virgin".
The £2m campaign aims to cut rates of teenage pregnancies in the UK, which is one of the
highest in Europe.
One of the campaigns will tackle the problem of peer pressure, which can persuade young
women to have sex early in their teenage years.
Other advertisements will address questions such as contraception and the risks of
disease.
More than 90,000 girls under the age of 19 get pregnant each year. The government is
spending £60m over three years to try to reduce the number.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the campaign will offer practical advice
and suggestions to raise awareness of the problems associated with teenage pregnancy.
The Family Planning Association welcomed the campaign. A spokeswoman said: "We
think its a good idea. As far as we know it has been very well researched. It's being well
publicised and well funded. "I think it is also going to be aimed at boys and
condom use, which again will be useful, because increased condom use influences rates of
sexually transmitted infections, and this is also important."
Source: (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_965000/965187.stm)