Children Have Sex in England

Increasingly younger teenagers, some of them still children, decide to have sex already at the age of 12.

Do children really have sex?

I will never forget how embarrassed I was at the sex education lessons at school when they taught us how to put condoms on each other's fingers. When I was 14 I already knew that there should be no air on top of a condom and that I can get pregnant or catch an unpleasant disease. Besides a very open and understanding teacher, I also remember the moving stories of teenage mothers, the presentations of sexual diseases, the people infected with HIV and the film Kids which we watched as teaching material in one of our lessons.

The film and discussion about sex convinced me to wait for my 'first' time a little longer. I was almost the last one among my friends when I had the first sexual intercourse at 16. When I look back now, I regret that I did not wait just a little bit longer. When you are 16, you rush into everything.

In England Children Do Have Sex at 12

It is a fact that children born after 1980 grow up much faster compared to the older generations. This is also evident from the data of the English telephone line for children (Childline), where they receive 50 calls a day related to sex and relationships. Callers are aged 12 years.

"Children mostly ask questions about the emotional and biological aspects of sex. Many children get confused when they find themselves in sexual situations and this can leave consequences later in their life. A girl from an elementary school called because she was afraid she got pregnant. She only had sex with the boy because she was afraid that he would leave her," said Sue Minto, director of the Childline telephone line for children.

A number of teenagers decide to have sex because they think it is 'cool' and because 'everyone is doing it'. Most of these children do not use any contraception.

Psychologists and child consultants have warned the authorities of the alarmed state among teenagers in England. According to the words of child consultant Emily Arkell, the English children have not gained enough knowledge about sex, particularly in schools and through the education system. The first step that has to be taken is to offer children improved sex education at schools.

When was your first time? Tell us, in the Forum.