SEX EDUCATION IN THE NETHERLANDS

Early day motion 809, tabled 4 March 2003 by Kerry Pollard (Labour). Signed by 16 members.

That this House notes the publication of, Deconstructing The Dutch Utopia, by the Family Education Trust, a report produced by Dr Joost van Loon, a Dutch sociologist and Reader in Social Theory at Nottingham Trent University; notes the difference in teenage pregnancy rates, with England and Wales experiencing four times the level of The Netherlands; further notes van Loon's conclusions that claims that this results from more open attitudes to sex and earlier explicit sex education are without foundation and that his research involved detailed examinations of a selection of primary and secondary schools where it was found that, contrary to claims made by UK family planning agencies, sex education is not more explicit and neither does it start at younger ages than in Britain; further notes that in sex education Dutch parents and school governors are given more control over what is taught; further notes that family links in The Netherlands are far stronger, with British children five times more likely to live in households headed by lone parents; notes that teenage extra-marital sex and pregnancy are socially frowned upon and that welfare benefits for teenage mothers are low; concludes that, whether or not one agrees with the latter policy, the Dutch Utopia is non-existent and, bearing in mind the increasing rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in Britain, calls on the Government to honour its pledge to promote sexual abstinence among the young and to do more to strengthen the role of the family.

Signatures by party: Conservative 8, Labour 4, Labour/Co-operative 3, UUP 1.