Hi guys,

I know this is a little cheeky considering I've never posted on here prior to this but I was hoping some of you might be willing to help me. I'm currently writing a dissertation for my uni degree and as part of it have to complete some research. I'm looking to ask some young mums about their experiences of sex education in school, and about their opinion of what would be good ways to tackle the high teenage pregnancy rates in the UK. I realise this might be a little controversial for some, so I hope it doesn't offend. If anyone is willing to help me out then all it would involve is answering some questionnaire type questions which I can either post in this thread or PM to people. You wouldn't have to give you name, or any identifying information (just your age and town).

If I explain a little bit about myself then it might help you understand why I'm choosing to do this... I was a young mum myself, I got pregnant at 15 and had my baby when I was 16. I'm now 26 and my daughter is nearly 10. Despite my daughter being the best thing that has ever happened to me I cannot deny that I have had to sacrifice an awful lot to ensure that she is brought up well. As a teenager I had little understanding of just how difficult raising a child is, I was brought up in a big family so had oodles of experience looking after babies and young children but nothing prepared me for the challenges ahead. I know young parents have it hard; getting looked down on, struggling to complete their education, having to rely on benefits (and then getting abuse for that too), etc, and although I dont necessarily think that teenagers make bad parents, I do think wonder that if there was more support, information, better sex education, and a more open way of talking about teen pregnancy (and even STI's etc) whether less young people would find themselves trying to raise children... so, this is why I'm asking for your help. Obviously I know about my own experiences of what I was taught in school, and about sexual health clinics etc in my own area, but I'd like to learn about others too.

For anyone who has read this far... thank you. And for anyone who thinks they may be able to help then please feel free to either post or PM me. I don't yet have quetions prepared but I hope to put a questionnaire together in the next 4-7 days.

And now I'm shutting up

Take care,
Jo x

Apologies for the spelling, I didn't realise there wasn't an 'edit' button. Should learn to read it through before I post lol

i am not from the UK, im from Australia, but where i live you have sex ed in grade 6 and thats all (haha, i reckon mean girls sex ed scene was better)
You dont really learn much in those class'

sorry im not much help

I'd be happy to help answer any questions But saying that i'm 20 so not technically a teenager, but i did get pregnant at 19 xx

I'd be happy to answer your questions, PM me :-)

I'm in the USA not the UK, sorry, otherwise I'd love to.

I don't know how it is there, but you begin sex ed in California in 5th grade and have it every year until year 11. We have a pretty in depth one once you get into highschool, but not many people take it seriously here. Personally, I don't think statistics take into account how many pregnancies are NOT accidents (mine was though), and how many happen even though you ARE on birth control of some sort.

Goodluck with your dissertation.

i'm in the uk so hopefully i can be of some help =) feel free to pm me if you need to know anything xx

I'd be happy to help, PM me if you need to

ill be happy to help
im 18 & in the UK xx

Am in the UK and also happy to help out x