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Devin Knox is a junior at The University of Texas at Austin, who is studying in London until April. Originally from the Lubbock, Devin is now a member of the Texas Youth Leadership Council -– a project of Advocates for Youth and the Texas Freedom Network.
The United States and the United Kingdom have many marked differences, from their spelling of words that should have a Z with an S to their irony, sarcasm and sense of humor. However, when it comes to sex they are way more open about it, even though they are considered the most sexually conservative country in Europe. They talk openly about it with their co-workers and friends and sex is just not the taboo like it is in the United States. Additionally, abortion is a settled matter and is not very controversial.
When it comes to sex education, it is compulsory nationwide. Starting this year five years old students will be taught about parts of the body, relationships and the effects of drugs. From the age of seven, students will learn about puberty and secondary school (high school) students will learn will learn about contraception, HIV and Aids, pregnancy and different kinds of relationships. Schools will be able to choose how they teach these things as long as it is within the program of study.
This is quite a marked difference from what I learned which consisted of learning I should use deodorant when I was 12 and hearing that I shouldn’t have sex until I’m married. The British are less afraid then us to give young people the information they need to live a healthy life.
However, Britain still has many problems. The United Kingdom has the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Western Europe. In 2007, Britain’s pregnancy rate for 15 to 17 year olds was 41.9 conceptions per 1,000 up from the year before and was the first rise in 5 years. This dashed the hopes of the British Government to halve the teenage pregnancy rate of 1999 by 2010. Hopefully, the new compulsory curriculum will bring British rates even lower. Even with that said, this is still much lower than the United States who, in 2006’s, teenage pregnancy rates were at 71 per 1,000.
I think that the United States could learn a lot from the United Kingdom in mandating a certain minimum curriculum of sex education but there is still work to be done on both sides of the Atlantic.
Cheers from London!
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