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The problem pages in teen magazines are said to be a positive source of advice
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Teenage magazines are taking the place of parents in teaching children thefacts of life, an official report warns.
Education watchdog Ofsted (Office for Standard in Education) said today problem pages in publications such as Cosmo Girl and Sugar - and 'lads' mags' including Nuts and Zoo - are a "very positive source of advice and reassurance for many young people".
Ofsted said magazines were filling the gap for teenagers because too many parents - especially mothers of adolescent girls - were failing to give children the advice they need about sex and relationships.
The watchdog's education director Miriam Rosen said: "No matter how difficult it may be, parents and teachers have to discuss sensitive issues with their children and pupils to help them make the right choices as they grow up."
The controversial endorsement of teenage magazines came in a new Ofsted report looking at the way schools teach children about sex, drugs and alcohol.
So-called "personal, social and health education" was still patchy in many primary and secondary schools, Ofsted said in a review of inspection reports from 2001 to 2006.
Polls of pupils by the Schools Health Education Unit for Ofsted showed: "Parents were generally less likely than previously to be seen as the main source of advice; the decline has been particularly marked for Year 8 (12-yearold) girls."
Parents were too shy to tackle embarrassing issues such as sexhead-on.
Ofsted continued: "As well as failing to provide the information themselves, some parents express concern about the suitability of information young people receive from other sources.
"Nevertheless, the 'problem pages' in magazines remain a very positive source of advice and reassurance for many young people, but difficulties may arise if the messages clash with parental and cultural norms."
Ofsted urged schools to provide embarrassed parents with material to help explain the facts of life to their children. But it also warned that in most primary school sex education lessons pupils knowledge and understanding of factual aspects wereno better thanadequate".
(Reuters)
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一份官方报告发出警告，青少年杂志正在取代父母，充当起对孩子进行性教育的角色。
据英国教育监管部门独立教育标准办公室Ofsted介绍，如今，《都市女孩》和《甜心》等出版物，以及Nuts 和 Zoo等男性杂志中的答疑栏目成了“许多年轻人寻求建议和安慰的一个十分积极的渠道”。
据Ofsted介绍，由于太多父母--尤其是处于青春期女孩的母亲--在性和男女关系问题上没能给予孩子必要的建议，所以这些杂志就为他们补上了这一课。
Ofsted的教育部主管米里亚姆·罗森说，“不管多么难以启齿，家长和老师都应该与孩子和学生讨论这些敏感问题，以帮助他们在成长过程中做出正确的选择。”
Ofsted最新发布的一份报告对学校在性、毒品和酒精等问题上的教育方式进行了探讨，报告中对青少年杂志中有关栏目表示了一定程度的认可。
Ofsted在2001年至2006年的监管回顾报告中称，很多小学和中学在所谓的“个人、社会和健康教育”方面做得都不够。
Ofsted下属的学校健康教育小组对小学生进行的一项调查显示，“家长不再像以前那样被视为建议的主要提供者；这种改变在八年级（12岁）的女孩中表现得尤为明显。”
家长羞于跟孩子正面讨论诸如性这样的尴尬问题。
此外，“家长们一方面自己不向孩子提供这方面的信息，同时有些家长又担心孩子从其他渠道获取的信息是否合适。”
“不过，杂志中的答疑版块仍是给年轻人提供建议、解答疑惑的一个十分健康的渠道。但如果杂志上的信息与家长的标准和文化准则不一致时，可能就会出现问题。”
Ofsted要求学校为那些“尴尬”的父母提供一些资料来帮助他们向孩子解释性知识。同时Ofsted发出警告，在大多数小学的性教育课程中，学生们对于性知识的掌握和理解无法让人满意。
（英语点津姗姗编辑）
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