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THE NUMBER OF teenage pregnancies has fallen by 64% in 15 years.
Earlier this year, figures released by the CSO showed a decrease in the number of teenage births from 3,087 in 2001 to 1,098 in 2016.
This equates to a decrease in the teen birth rate from 20 per 1,000 of females aged 15-19 in Ireland in 2001 to 7.8 per 1,000 in 2016.
So, why has it dropped so much?
Niall Behan, Chief Executive of the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) told TheJournal.ie: “We think it’s down to better sexuality education and better conversations between parents and young people.”
Behan said that, as well as the conception rate among teenage girls decreasing in recent years, so too has the abortion rate.
In 2016, 10 girls under the age of 16 sought an abortion in the UK, as did 56 girls aged 16 or 17 and 174 women aged 18 or 19 – according to figures from the UK Department of Health.
Behan said the decline in teenage pregnancy rates first noted in the early 2000s was likely a result of changes made to the sexual health education curriculum in the late 1990s.
He noted that sex ed can vary widely depending on the school, stating: “A lot of schools will talk about the main issues, some won’t.” He said some schools are “very reluctant” to talk about contraception, often for religious reasons.
There are some boards of management who still are reluctant to allow teachers to provide comprehensive sexual education. In fairness, that has diminished a lot.
“How an issue like contraception is talked about can influence its use,” he said, noting that some teachers may feel embarrassed when broaching the topic.
Behan said fear tactics around teenage pregnancy and sexually-transmitted infections may have an “initial scare impact on young people” but don’t help long-term, adding: “They need to be taught about contraception.”
Behan said people need to accept that humans are “sexual beings” and “young people will experiment around their sexuality”. He said it’s also important that young people are taught about the emotional aspects of relationships.
Behan said the curriculum could be further improved by being more inclusive of the LGBTI+ community. He added that the sex ed curriculum in some European countries discusses the opportunities girls and young women may lose out on if they become pregnant – something that could be also further explored in Ireland.
Behan said abstinence is no longer commonly taught as a way of avoiding pregnancy, but still features in some programmes, usually those imported from US evangelical organisations. He said these can have a “really negative effect”, adding there is “no evidence they have any impact on rates of teen pregnancy”.
Speaking about the role parents also play in terms of teaching young people about sexual health and contraception, Behan said there is an “increasing level of comfort” around discussing these issues, but it’ll always be an awkward conversation for some people.
Research
When asked about how sex ed can vary widely in schools, a spokesperson from the HSE’s Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme (SHCPP) noted: “While research suggests that more RSE (Relationships and Sexuality Education) is happening in schools, the Department of Education Inspectorate continues to report a variation in the quality of the RSE programme taught in schools and students continue to report dissatisfaction with the RSE programme.”
The spokesperson said the SHCPP and the Department of Education have commissioned qualitative research “to help understand how RSE is experienced from the perspectives of stakeholders in a sample of post-primary schools”.
A key objective of the research is to assess what is required to support schools to improve implementation and quality of RSE. The recommendations from the project will help inform the steps needed to be taken to support teachers and principals.
The spokesperson added that RSE “has made a significant contribution to the decline in teenage pregnancies”.
According to the Irish Contraception and Crisis Pregnancy Study 2010, most young people were having sex for the first time between 17-19 years. Some 37% of men aged 18-25 and 26% of women aged 18-25 reported having had sex before the age of 17.
In the Growing up in Ireland Study carried out in 2016 (a nationally representative survey of 17 and 18-year-olds), one-third of young people said they had previously had sexual intercourse. Of those who were sexually active, 79% reported that they always used some form of contraception.
“This data suggests that the majority of sexually active teenagers in Ireland are aware of the risk of pregnancy and use contraception to protect themselves,” the HSE spokesperson said.
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And wee Jeffrey still says NO! Whatever happens, the DUP will never take second billing.
@Richard Starling: anything that annoys the shinner vermin is fine with me. Surely it’s time for a hunger strike lol
Still a No so Jeffrey, there’s a surprise
What a charade! We rail about the lack of democracy in tin-pot dictator countries, while there is none on a part of this island!
The DUP are the infants that need to grow up and start doing their jobs.
@Todd Hebert: The DUP are not being petulant or immature imo. As I see it, they’re fastidiously implementing a strategy of stalling and ultimately destroying the GFA. Since it negotiations and through the entire life of the GFA, the DUP have never lived up to the GFA and they have no intention of ever living up to it. Their vote increased by .8 in the last election so they have a mandate and they’re looked after by British establishment. What is Ireland’s role? We should push for border polls imo
They are good at talking, I’ll give them that!
Cut their wages and they’ll be back in 24hrs
Can’t believe this is still going on. Bunch of big children.
So there’s still work to be done. By whom? I’d say the DUP!
Anything that upsets the shinners is fine with me
@Murray peter: Explains why your lot bow down to the Orange Order.
@Rob Cahill: what’s wrong with the wonderful orange order?
@Murray peter: What a sad wasted life you must lead.
@Murray peter: being a bigoted sectarian throw back to bygone era is enough.
@M Bowe: that perfectly describes you shinner subhumans lol
Please walk away from this mess instead of Dancing to the DUPs Tune, because they will ultimately want new Elections before they go back to Stormont.
If SF really want to pish them off, take up their seats in Westminster!
@Temp Stuff: that would mean s kum fein would have to do some work, no chance of that happening lol
@Temp Stuff: Do you really expect SG MPs to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown?
Do you really think their electorate would want them to do that?
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: SF, not SG.
My typing is getting worse.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: yes, state the path either fingers crossed. It would just be a tactical decision for a suited period of time.
I’d have the DUP over the disgusting shinners any day
@Boris Blank: how about neither.Those two will never agree anyway.Maybe a few moderates from each of them and a combination of the Alliance SDLP UUP and anybody else that wants to see a future.
@Boris Blank: literally anyone is more desirable than the shinner vermin
@Murray peter: largest party on the island
@Comzi Walsh: only decent thing a shinner ever did was starve themselves. 10-nil to the Iron Lady lol
Israel/Palestine and Russia/Ukraine peace talks would be easier than trying to get the DUP to accept that there’s going to be a Nationalist First Minister. That’s been the issue all along. The Protocol was and is only a handy cover for their bigotry. The DUP only like democracy when it suits them. They don’t like when democracy gives them the answers they don’t like. They will never change, most of them don’t even believe in evolution, they’re stuck in the 1690’s and the modern thinkers of theirs still think it’s the 1920’s. They’ll never be pleased.
Peter Murray! Yeah your right,you a blue shirt!pretty much the same as the DUP!you remember the blue shirts Peter?
@Blaney Richard: thank you for the compliment :)
Sinn Gael
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