By Hilary White

LONDON, England, July 16, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A “culture of promiscuity” has led to 397,990 new cases of sexually transmitted diseases in Britain, the highest number since record-keeping began thirty years ago, the Daily Mail reports.

The Health Protection Agency that compiled the statistics noted that for most British young people, promiscuous sexual behaviour has become just “part of the territory” in day to day life. In their report released July 2, the HPA found that half the cases of infection could be found in the 16 to 24 year age group, even though this group made up only 12 percent of the population.

The 16-24 age group account for 65 percent of all chlamydia, 50 percent of genital warts and 50 percent of gonorrhoea infections diagnosed in STD clinics across the UK in 2007. Genital warts, caused by the human papillomavirus, are known to cause cervical cancer.

In addition, the rate of HIV infection among young, sexually active male homosexuals has almost doubled since 1998, the study found.

Dr. Gwenda Hughes, said, “Young people are disproportionately affected by STIs. This is because they are more sexually active, have more sexual partners, tend to have overlapping sexual relationships and are more likely to have casual sexual relationships.”

The Family Planning Association (FPA), Britain’s leading promoters of contraception and “free sex”, said the solution is more sex education for children. Julie Bentley, chief executive of the FPA, backed by the HPA report’s conclusions, said, “Education, information, accessible services and widespread STI testing are imperative in improving the sexual health of the population and especially the 16 to 24-year-old age group.”

But others said that this solution, so ardently promoted by sex groups, contraception campaigners and the Labour government, is the ultimate cause of the problem since it teaches young people that there is nothing wrong with promiscuous sex.

Norman Wells of Family and Youth Concern said, “The answer does not lie in yet more sex education and contraceptive schemes, but in honestly telling young people the only sure way to avoid being infected with an STI is to keep sexual intimacy within the context of a lifelong, mutually faithful relationship with an uninfected partner.”

At the same time, the government’s obsession with sex education has not halted the abortion rate among young girls. Earlier this month, a study revealed that Britain’s abortion rate in 2007 rose a shocking 21 percent among young mothers under the age of 14. Abortions for those under the age of 16 also rose ten percent.

A recent study by the government-sponsored Sex Education Forum revealed that the school system in Britain is already saturated with sex education, while the FPA has called for the introduction of sex-ed to children as young as four.

One-third of secondary schools directly offer condoms and other contraceptives to students through “sexual health clinics”. One in 20 have provided children with prescriptions for a variety of chemical contraceptives. Pregnancy tests and morning-after pills are being offered in schools to hundreds of thousands of children, some as young as 11, the Guardian reported last month. One in six of all secondary schools gave pupils access to the abortifacient morning-after pill. Children are encouraged to tell parents about the “services” they receive, but schools are not required to inform parents.

Lucy Emmerson, a senior development officer with the Sex Education Forum, professed herself “delighted” with this information, and thirty MPs have signed a motion calling on schools to do even more. Emmerson said that some have expressed concerns about the reaction of parents to the information that their children are being provided with condoms and prescriptions at school.

Andy Hibberd, co-founder of the Parent Organisation, a support group, told the Guardian, “It is not a problem that children are getting sex advice in school but the fact that parents are being intentionally cut out of the loop is wrong. If they want the morning-after pill, the school will sanction that and the parent will never know. We would say that this is the end of innocence.”

Carol Platt Liebau, an American author and political analyst agrees, saying that the hyper sexualised culture that is being perpetuated by these kinds of school programmes, is damaging, especially to girls. Girls are “living in a profoundly anti-feminist landscape”, she said, and are being taught, predominantly through media, that “it is only through promiscuity and sexual aggression” that they can achieve admiration and recognition.

The Daily Telegraph quoted Liebau, author of the upcoming book “Prude: How The Sex-Obsessed Culture Damages Girls”, who said, “The overwhelming lessons teenagers are now learning from the world around them is that being sexy is the ultimate accolade, trumping intelligence, character and all other accomplishments at every stage of a woman’s life.”

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

UK Contraception and Abortion Promoters calling for Sex Ed for Four Year-Olds
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08070408.html

UK Schools Handing Out Morning-After Pill to Students of All Ages
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/aug/06081002.html

“Premature Sexualisation” Pushing Young Girls into Depression and Self-Harm: New Study
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08071405.html

Major Study Reveals Overwhelming Bias of “Comprehensive” Sex Education
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jun/07061806.html