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Sexual health clinics could soon be open in every secondary school as part of a drive to cut teenage pregnancies.[Agencies]
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Sexual health clinics could soon be open in every secondary school and college.
All pupils would have easy access to emergency contraception and pregnancy testing without their parents being told.
Around a third of secondary schools in England - almost 1,000 - already have clinics. Some are mobile units shared by a number of schools.
Now an influential study, commissioned by the Government, has recommended extending the coverage to all state secondaries and colleges in a drive to cut teenage pregnancies.
Advocates of the approach say children can be deterred from seeking sexual health services if they have to travel to community centres.
But critics say the policy is a "social experiment" which risks encouraging under-age sex instead of curbing it. Already, the morning-after pill is available to a million schoolgirls.
The survey of school clinic provisions was carried out by the National Children's Bureau on behalf of the Sex Education Forum.
It found that single-sex, faith and independent schools were less likely to have clinics.
Just 14 per cent of all-girl schools and 10 per cent of boys' schools had them. Only a fraction of the clinics restrict services to children over 16 - the legal age of consent. Among further education colleges, which teach four in ten 16-year-olds and growing numbers of 14-year-olds, almost three- quarters have on-site sexual health services.
Some colleges offer condoms only in emergencies but others provide them in vending machines.
The report admits there is a 'lack of research evidence' about the effectiveness of school-based clinics, accessible by children as young as 11.
But it says: 'School is the one place that the large majority of children and young people attend.
'Not all young people will need to use a sexual health service at school age, but providing a service in school is the best way of making sure that those young people who need the service can use it.'
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(Agencies)
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英国所有的中学和大学不久将开设性健康咨询室。
今后，所有学生都可以在不告知家长的情况下方便地得到紧急避孕和验孕服务。
目前英国已有约三分之一、近1000所中学开设了性健康咨询室。其中一些是流动性的，为几所学校共用。
日前，由英国政府委托开展的一项重量级研究建议，为降低青少年怀孕率，应该让性健康咨询室走进所有国立中学和大学。
这项建议的倡导者称，如果非要到社区卫生服务中心去寻求帮助，孩子们可能会有顾虑。
但批评人士称该政策是一种“社会实验”，是在鼓励而不是防止青少年过早发生性行为。而且对于很多女学生来说，买紧急避孕药已经不是什么难事。
此项针对在学校开设性健康咨询室的调查由英国国家儿童局代表性教育论坛开展。
调查发现，单一性别学校、教会学校以及私立学校开设性健康咨询室的可能性较小。
仅有14%的女校和10%的男校设有性健康咨询室。仅有一部分学校将咨询年龄限制在16岁（英国性行为最低法定年龄）以上。在高等院校中，近四分之三的学生接受过“现场”性健康咨询，目前英国40%的16岁青少年和越来越多的14岁少年就读于这些院校。
有些大学仅在紧急情况下提供避孕套，而有些大学则通过自动售卖机出售。
研究报告坦称目前的确“缺乏证据”证明在学校开设性健康咨询室的好处。现在11岁的学生都可以前往咨询。
但报告指出，‘学校是大多数孩子和年轻人都得去的地方’。
‘并非所有年轻人在学龄阶段都需要性健康咨询服务，但在学校提供这种服务是确保一些有需要的年轻人获得帮助的最好办法’。
（实习生许雅宁 英语点津姗姗编辑）
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