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Sex Education In The Netherlands

EDM number 809 in 2002-03, proposed by Kerry Pollard on 04/03/2003.

That this House notes the publication of, Deconstructing The Dutch Utopia, by the Family Education Trust, a report produced by Dr Joost van Loon, a Dutch sociologist and Reader in Social Theory at Nottingham Trent University; notes the difference in teenage pregnancy rates, with England and Wales experiencing four times the level of The Netherlands; further notes van Loon's conclusions that claims that this results from more open attitudes to sex and earlier explicit sex education are without foundation and that his research involved detailed examinations of a selection of primary and secondary schools where it was found that, contrary to claims made by UK family planning agencies, sex education is not more explicit and neither does it start at younger ages than in Britain; further notes that in sex education Dutch parents and school governors are given more control over what is taught; further notes that family links in The Netherlands are far stronger, with British children five times more likely to live in households headed by lone parents; notes that teenage extra-marital sex and pregnancy are socially frowned upon and that welfare benefits for teenage mothers are low; concludes that, whether or not one agrees with the latter policy, the Dutch Utopia is non-existent and, bearing in mind the increasing rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in Britain, calls on the Government to honour its pledge to promote sexual abstinence among the young and to do more to strengthen the role of the family.

This motion has been signed by a total of 16 MPs.

MPDateConstituencyPartyType
Kerry Pollard04/03/2003St AlbansLabourProposed
Jim Dobbin04/03/2003Heywood & MiddletonLabour Co-operativeSigned
Joe Benton04/03/2003BootleLabourSigned
Ann Widdecombe04/03/2003Maidstone & The WealdConservativeSigned
Ann Winterton04/03/2003CongletonConservativeSigned
Bob Spink05/03/2003Castle PointConservativeSigned
David Taylor05/03/2003North West LeicestershireLabour Co-operativeSigned
Martin Smyth06/03/2003Belfast SouthUUPSigned
David Drew06/03/2003StroudLabour Co-operativeSigned
Harold Best06/03/2003Leeds North WestLabourSigned
John Horam12/03/2003OrpingtonConservativeSigned
Andrew Rosindell13/03/2003RomfordConservativeSigned
Kevin McNamara13/03/2003Kingston upon Hull NorthLabourSigned
Andrew Selous19/03/2003South West BedfordshireConservativeSigned
Keith Simpson14/05/2003Mid NorfolkConservativeSigned
Humfrey Malins21/05/2003WokingConservativeSigned

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