性教育课程差强人意 英2000余青少年签名请愿
  Teenage Girls Call for Compulsory Sex Education

摘要：
    英国首相府27日收到一份由2000多名该国青少年签名的请愿书，请愿书中要求政府在初中开设性教育必修课，并聘请专业人士在课堂上与学生们开诚布公地讨论有关性和性关系的话题。
    Teenagers want all secondary schools to have compulsory classes with specialised teachers who can openly discuss sex and relationships, a survey released yesterday shows.

    英国首相府27日收到一份由2000多名该国青少年签名的请愿书，请愿书中要求政府在初中开设性教育必修课，并聘请专业人士在课堂上与学生们开诚布公地讨论有关性和性关系的话题。

    据《卫报》2月28日报道，超过2000名青少年签名的这份请愿书27日递交到了伦敦唐宁街首相府，要求英国所有初中学校必须开设“性与性关系教育(SRE)”课程。请愿书还呼吁，英国政府在对中学教学质量进行评估时，应该考察老师向学生传授生活技能的情况，而不只是看重初中会考的分数。

    这次请愿活动的发起人是面向少女群体的英国时尚杂志《CosmoGirl》的主编西莉亚·杜坎。杜坎认为，孩子们的意见和建议对政府制定相关政策具有参考意义。这份请愿书显示的数据显示，有三分之一的青少年学生认为自己接受的SRE课程“完全是垃圾”，81％的人认为学校里的SRE课程可以得到改进。

    上周公布的一份针对英国英格兰地区和威尔士地区的统计数字（2004年度）显示，上述地区16岁以下女孩中有6％曾经意外怀孕，18岁及18岁以下的女孩意外怀孕比率反而比前者低一个百分点。“这说明帮助年轻女性避免意外怀孕的工作正在取得实质性成果”，英国布鲁克性健康慈善会的负责人简·巴洛说。

    他还呼吁：“英国政府应该确保每一名青少年在学校获得全面的性和性关系教育，并成为全国初中课程的必修部分。”

    Teenagers want all secondary schools to have compulsory classes with specialised teachers who can openly discuss sex and relationships, a survey released yesterday shows.

    The results were compiled from a petition, signed by more than 2,000 teenagers and delivered to Downing Street yesterday, demanding that all schools make sex and relationships education (SRE) mandatory.

    It also called on the government to assess secondary schools on the life skills they equip pupils with, and not just GCSE results.

    Celia Duncan, the editor of CosmoGirl magazine, which was behind the petition, said one-third of the teenagers thought their SRE was "absolute rubbish" and 81% thought SRE in their school could be improved.

    Ms Duncan was joined at Downing Street by 16-year-old Bethany Cole, who was inspired to join the protest after a friend at a Catholic school was denied SRE.

    Although there was still significant work to be done, Ms Duncan was optimistic that the views and wishes of teenagers on the SRE issue would guide government policy.

    Ms Duncan said: "I believe we are going in the right direction, we just have to keep pushing because the support is definitely there from parents."

    Figures released last week using 2004 statistics for England and Wales revealed a 6% drop in unplanned pregnancies in girls under 16, and a 1% decrease in girls aged 18 and under.

    Jan Barlow, the chief executive of the sexual health charity for teenagers, Brook, said: "These figures show that real progress is being made in helping young women avoid unplanned pregnancies. I urge the government to ensure that the principle of confidentiality is protected when it publishes its revised guidance on safeguarding young people.

    "We also need to ensure every young person is guaranteed comprehensive sex and relationships education in school, as a compulsory part of the national curriculum."