Teenage pregnancies soar after sex ed (UK)
Mail Online (UK) 26th February 2009

Pregnancies among girls under the legal age for sex have shot up to the highest level in a decade, new figures showed today. The surge among girls under 16 dealt a fresh and devastating blow to Labour’s hopes of slashing teenage pregnancy by handing out contraceptives and spreading sex education . Despite nearly 300 million pounds spent on the campaign, the number of teenage girls who became pregnant in 2007 went up , not down, according to the latest count…. The figures brought alarming new evidence that the failed attempt to cut teenage pregnancy by distributing contraception rather than discouraging teens from having sex is doing most harm to the very youngest girls. READ MORE
Family First Comment : So who’s surprised at this finding? (Memo to UK gov’t – “Try teaching abstinence and positive decision making”!!!!)

Law review looks at drinking culture
NZ Herald Mar 02, 2009

The legal age for drinking, beer advertisements and blood alcohol levels for drivers are being scrutinised as the Law Commission reviews the liquor laws. The commission’s review, the biggest since the Laking Report in the mid-1980s, will consider issues including the proliferation of liquor outlets and how alcohol consumption contributes to criminal offending. READ MORE

Family First Comment : This review is well overdue. Child abuse, violence in our community and homes, and crime has a direct link to alcohol abuse. Since the liberalisation of alcohol laws from 1989 onwards it has had a huge impact on the safety and welfare of families. But will this review be willing to challenge the ‘kiwi binge drinking’ culture??

See also Pre-teens try booze, cannabis
Christchurch Press 03 March 2009
Kiwi children as young as four are trying alcohol and nine-year-olds are using cannabis, a new study reveals. READ MORE