Only in the UK!

[BoredBloke]

Scheme 'increased teen pregnancy'

A Government-backed scheme to help lower the rate of teenage pregnancies in the UK has had the opposite effect, a report has claimed.

The drive, which cost almost £6 million, was designed to offer education and support to young people aged 13 to 15 who were deemed at risk of exclusion from school, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy.

It ran in 27 parts of England between 2004 and 2007 and was based on a similar model in New York.

A total of 2,371 teenagers took part in the Young People's Development Programme and those who attended have been found to be "significantly" more likely to fall pregnant than those in a comparison group.

This was despite those in the group receiving education about sex and drugs, being no more sexually active than the other group and some sites distributing free condoms.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), concluded: "No evidence was found that the intervention was effective in delaying heterosexual experience or reducing pregnancies, drunkenness or cannabis use."

It added: "Some results suggested an adverse effect."

However, staff and youngsters did think the programme was a good idea.

"Most young people, staff, parents and other stakeholders rated the YPDP highly," the researchers said.

"Young people were especially positive about the activities on offer and their relationships with staff."

Richard McKie, national programme manager for health at the National Youth Agency, said the YPDP had left a legacy which was still proving useful.

"Since the end of YPDP in 2007, we have been utilising the wealth of learning generated by YPDP projects up and down England to create the Youth Work 4 Health initiative," he said.
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So while it was 6m wasted they got on well with the staff. More non job bollocks in the uk

[BrilloPad]

I remember a film at school on dangers of ouiji boards. Most said it made them think about trying it : they had not thought of it before.

Sometimes its best to say nothing.

[EternalOptimist]

And the minister responsible ?

step forward D.Primarolo

[Moscow Mule]

There's a simple way to solve most of this countries education problems:


STOP DICKING AROUND WITH EVERYTHING EVERY TWO MINUTES

[Churchill]

"Young people were especially positive about the activities on offer and their relationships with staff."
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So while it was 6m wasted they got on well with the staff. More non job bollocks in the uk

It was probably the staff who helped increase the number of pregnancies...

[The Lone Gunman]

Mrs Gunman works in this area. Not this particular scheme, but with disafected people in general.
By far the biggest cause of teen pregnancies she sees is due to the fact that these girls can jump the council house queue. Single mums are a priority.
The high risk group are at the lower end of the social and educational scale. They have few prospects other than a life on the dole. Many have multiple sprogs because that gets them off the council estates as the council houses on the estates are often 2 or 3 roomers.
With some it is almost a family franchise with 2 or 3 generations and siblings all on the same street or estate.

How to solve this is a bit of an issue.

[Moscow Mule]

How to solve this is a bit of an issue.

It's a bit hard to comment on without sounding like I advocate 3rd Reich or Maoist policies.

[cailin maith]

It's a bit hard to comment on without sounding like I advocate 3rd Reich or Maoist policies.

MM - I know exactly what you mean. I really don'tt hink people should be "allowed" to have kids if they can't provide for them without the help of the state but when I say it out loud it sounds just like those kind of policies....

[EternalOptimist]

Mrs Gunman works in this area. Not this particular scheme, but with disafected people in general.
By far the biggest cause of teen pregnancies she sees is due to the fact that these girls can jump the council house queue. Single mums are a priority.
The high risk group are at the lower end of the social and educational scale. They have few prospects other than a life on the dole. Many have multiple sprogs because that gets them off the council estates as the council houses on the estates are often 2 or 3 roomers.
With some it is almost a family franchise with 2 or 3 generations and siblings all on the same street or estate.

How to solve this is a bit of an issue.

I was around when this policy first started to take off. In fact I was bumped down the list due to young single mums.
The debate in those days centred around the nightmare of young mums bringing up a baby in a cramped bedroom that was shared with three other sisters.
There was a lot of sympathy for that point of view although I guess the pendulum has swung the other way

[Menelaus]

MM - I know exactly what you mean. I really don'tt hink people should be "allowed" to have kids if they can't provide for them without the help of the state but when I say it out loud it sounds just like those kind of policies....

True.

This would place us on the slippery slope towards (potentially) eugenics. That having been said, I think I would support the proposition that only persons of a certain level of educational achievement should be allowed to drop sprogs: in doing so we'd raise the level of intelligence in the country over the course of a couple of hundred years.