Scottish secondary schools to soon offer sex education clinics

October 8, 2009 by Shawn Douglas  
Filed under: News

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Clinics will offer free condoms and pregnancy tests to students under the age of 16 in an attempt to curb teenage pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Following on the heels of a Family Planning Association (FPA) report measuring teenage pregnancy in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Scottish government has revealed a new plan to help their youth. According to Scotland’s plan, detailed in a report called “Do the Right Thing”, sex clinics will be opened up in Scotland’s secondary schools.

“Where possible, services will be provided in all schools,” said a government spokeswoman on Sunday night. “When a school cannot provide this service, an alternative service will be provided within 20 minutes’ walking distance.”

For many years now, Scotland has struggled with teenage pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, reporting some of the highest levels in all Europe. The July FPA report showed that in both 2006 and 2007 there was a conception rate of 8.1 percent for Scottish teens under the age of 16, up from 7.1 percent in 2005. In addition, the spread of chlamydia had increased significantly in the population of teens under the age of 16.

Conception rates were 8.5 percent in 1995, and government officials had hoped to curb under-16 conception rates in the country by 10 percent by 2010.

While Catholic schools may opt out of the program, some members of the Catholic Church expressed their dislike for the approach. Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Church, labeled the action as “tantamount to pouring petrol on a fire” and argued that these sorts of sexual education clinics will do more harm by encouraging sexual activity.

Murdo Fraser, Scottish Tory deputy leader, urged caution as well.

“There is an argument for better sex education for children before they engage in sexual activity but we have to ensure that this is done in a moral context and that we are not stimulating an interest which might not otherwise be there.”

The Scottish government still contends that the services are “vital” to teens and that those services be available “when and where they require them.”

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