英青少年关心如何为人父母胜过如何性交

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.

一项调查发现，英国青少年更想多学习一些有关家庭价值观的知识而非性知识。

他们认为作为父母的责任是最要紧的“性知识”，比性交、避孕和性传染病的知识都更重要。

这一调查结果表明学校当前性教育的重点是性交学，包括如何使用避孕套，但这并不是青少年最想了解的。

近一半的女孩说她们希望能够把性教育的重点放在怀孕的后果上，而不是性生理知识。

这一调查面向的是13岁到16岁的青少年，调查还发现超过三分之一的男孩想知道“为人父母”是怎么一回事，许多人认为这比任何其他事情都重要。

来自赫尔大学的专家说，他们调查的大部分青少年都支持有关性行为的“道德”观念，这让他们感到惊讶。

大多数青少年认为第一次性关系应该是有特殊意义的，只有在长期的认真的感情关系中才可以发生性行为。

赫尔大学健康与社会保健学院的朱莉．乔敏博士和克莱尔．惠特菲尔德博士开展了这一调查。

乔敏博士说这一调查发现很重要，因为一项旨在减少青少年怀孕比例的国家策略以失败告终，而年轻人染上性传播疾病的比例却在升高。

工党在执政期间曾许诺要将青少年怀孕率减半，并为实现这一目标花费了2.46亿英镑，但是最后落空了，英国青少年的怀孕比例依然是全欧洲最高的。

乔敏博士说：“学龄儿童会发生性行为，这是显而易见的。”

这一关于性和感情关系的调查涵盖了来自9所学校的2036名青少年，这9所学校既有分布在富裕地区的，也有位于贫困地区的。调查发现，46%的女孩和38%的男孩认为“为人父母”是他们最需要多一些了解的。

女孩们认为第二重要的是有关紧急避孕药的知识，41%的女孩想在这方面了解更多，而34%的男孩想知道更多关于性交的信息。

Vocabulary:

facts of life: the sexual activity of conceiving and bearing offspring（性知识；生殖功能，尤指对儿童讲的，通常使用复数形式）

deprived: without enough food, education, and all the things that are necessary for people to live a happy and comfortable life（贫穷的；贫困的；穷苦的）

morning after pill: a drug that a woman can take some hours after having sex in order to avoid becoming pregnant （房事后服用的）女用口服避孕丸，紧急避孕药