Condom manufacturers have been ordered to produce extra small condoms for boys as young as 12, after research showed 12 to14-year-olds did not use sufficient protection when having sex.
Lamprecht AG, a leading condom manufacturer in Switzerland, has started producing “The Hotshot” condoms for minors which are going on sale in Switzerland after a study, conducted on behalf of the Swiss Federal Commission for Children and Youth, interviewed 1,480 people aged 10 to 20.
The study showed that more 12 to 14-year-olds were having sex, in comparison with the 1990s.
The company has said the UK would be ‘top priority’ if they expanded abroad, considering that it has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe.
Nysse Norballe, a spokesman for the company, said:
‘At the moment we are only producing the Hotshot in Switzerland. But the UK is certainly a very attractive market since there is a very high rate of underage conception. The UK would definitely be top priority if we marketed abroad.’
In 1999, the government pledged to halve the teenage conception rate within 10 years. But data released last week from The Office for National Statistics shows it has clearly failed to make any significant impact. The figures show that 40.4 of every 1,000 girls aged 15-17 became pregnant, a 13.3 per cent fall from the 1998 rate of 46.6.
It was reported yesterday that parents had taken their children out of school after seven-year-olds were made to watch a cartoon showing a couple chasing each other around a bed and having sex. Seven and eight-year-old pupils watched the controversial Channel 4 sex education DVD, Living and Growing, at their village primary school while a voiceover on the DVD described the sex as ‘exciting’.
Lisa Bullivant, who took her daughter out of the school, said:
‘The cartoon was very graphic. My daughter was frightened and children have unfortunately been copying what they have seen. Parents should have been given the decision of whether the video should have been shown or not.
‘Seven to nine-year-olds should not possess this knowledge. There is no educational or psychological benefit or need for children of this age to have full knowledge of what sexual intercourse actually entails.’
(See the Daily Mail report)
The epidemic of child sexualisation has forced politicians to make it an issue for the upcoming elections.
Last month, the leader of the Conservative Party has called for an end to the ‘inappropriate sexualisation’ of children saying that parents should be able to complain via a specifically set-up website about offensive marketing tactics used by companies.
(See the CCFON report)
Last week, a British novelist provoked a public debate over teenage sex by claiming that girls are ready to have babies when they are 14 years-old.
In September 2009, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization issued a draft report claiming that children as young as five should be taught about explicit sex acts, abortion, homosexuality and sexually transmitted diseases.
Among the most controversial recommendations in the report were that teachers should discuss subjects such as masturbation with children from the age of five. The guidelines state that teachers should discuss the idea that ‘girls and boys have private body parts that can feel pleasurable when touched by oneself’ with pupils who are just five years old.
(See the CCFON report)
BBC World Service (Audio)