Leading article: The case for sex on television
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The proposals to allow advertisements for pregnancy advisory services to be aired on television and radio, and for condom adverts to be shown before the 9pm watershed, have reactivated a familiar debate about the official approach to sex education in this country.
Proponents of reforming the advertising codes argue that this would help to educate ignorant young people about how to terminate an unwanted pregnancy and to practise safe sex. They feel that such liberalisation would help reduce Britain's stubbornly high rates of teen pregnancy and the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases among the young.
Opponents argue that this sort of advert will merely encourage younger children to experiment sexually and have no impact on those children whose behaviour really needs to be reformed. They believe the official emphasis should be on curbing the "sexualisation" of the media, rather than encouraging it.
The problem with the latter argument is that countries which have a more comprehensive and less inhibited regime of sex education in their schools and media, such as the Netherlands, also tend to have lower rates of teenage pregnancies.
Moreover, the present minimalist system of sex education in the UK is plainly not working. Last month this appeared to have been vividly illustrated by the case of Alfie Patten, a 13-year-old from Eastbourne who believed he had fathered a child at the tender age of 12 with his 15-year-old girlfriend.
It is true that allowing abortion and condom adverts on television would probably have a minimal impact on individuals with such chaotic lives and unstable family backgrounds. But if such measures were combined with broader sex education for children and pressure for parents to take their responsibilities more seriously, there is every reason to believe they would help.
High rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are a sign that we are getting something very wrong in the way we educate our children about sex, relationships and responsibility. It is time for a new approach.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments