With the incidence of teenage pregnancies in Malta, and in an attempt to figure out the reason for the increasing rate, one cannot but turn to other factors which are influencing the behaviour of young people, including the kind of education they receive at school.
Research has identified possible factors, including lower educational levels, lack of career aspirations, conflicts at home, and the effects of the media. Thus the question becomes unavoidable - is our educational system arming teenagers with enough knowledge and self-awareness to prevent teenage pregnancies?
Roderick Bugeja, sexual health adviser and freelance consultant in sexuality education, believes that the education system alone is not enough to prevent such pregnancies.
"We should not link teenage pregnancies solely with the kind of education youths are receiving, because education per se does not reflect on the number of pregnancies. There are other factors that influence young people's choices related to their sexual behaviour and outcomes, among which - and which needs to be addressed and considered a priority together with education - is the lack of sexual health services available and made accessible specifically to our young people."
Another such factor is the media, which earlier this month made the headlines through the results of a new study which linked explicit television content with teenage pregnancies. "If the type of sexual portrayals that teens see on TV are the only messages they're getting about sex, then they're likely to approach sexual relationships in a way that might not be the healthiest way," the study co-author said.
Maud Muscat, lecturer at University, believes that PSD sessions, of which sexual education forms a major part, should incorporate lessons on media.
"At such an age, teenagers are normally not mature enough to be selective. Which is why they should learn to look beyond certain scenes and language on television."
However, media education is just one of the topics which should be introduced into PSD lessons.
Ruth Falzon, coordinator of the PSD teacher training pogramme at the university, thinks that although PSD sessions are reaching many adolescents, both the curriculum and the amount of PSD sessions per week need to be improved in amount and quality.
"PSD should be at the centre of the education system because it focuses not on the academic but on educating students in a wide range of skills which are needed in everyday life. Without detracting from the value of every other subject, PSD sessions teach students self-awareness, self-esteem, how to be assertive, how to make a good and healthy choice, how to solve problems, and other skills which the student is most likely to use very often - in other words a better quality of life."
Sexual education - which Mr Bugeja emphasises as being more akin to sexuality and relationships education, "a more correct title for a subject which is often erroneously called sex education" - forms a major part of PSD sessions. However, such sessions are offered twice a week for Form 1, 2 and 3 students and only once a week for Form 4 and 5 students attending state schools, while once a fortnight or none at all in other schools. One should also note that these sessions could effectively amount to just 30 minutes or less."
Ms Falzon believes that the number of lessons per week is not only little, but does not target the particular age groups in an effective manner.
"While in theory boys receive the same education, boys tend to look upon sexual education in a more superficial nature. This is probably because boys mature at a later stage. Thus we are faced with a situation where boys are receiving fewer lessons when they need it most."
This fact has also been confirmed through Mr Bugeja's research, carried out among peer groups of teenagers.
"Young people are not a homogenous group, so you cannot have a one-size-fits-all kind of solution. Some of the respondents I have interviewed said that sexual education was reaching them at a stage earlier than they could even comprehend at the time. On the other hand, they are receiving too little or none at all when they need it most, that is, in later years at secondary school. Hence PSD sessions are not targeting the right age bracket," Mr Bugeja said.
Mr Bugeja also believes that even the best possible education system is unlikely to make a difference without the proper health services, even made accessible within schools.
Perhaps, however, one suggestion which all three agreed upon was the need to take PSD sessions out of the box and link it to every other subject in the curriculum, with the help of teachers, and turn the subject into a truly whole school approach.
"Every teacher should be exposed to PSD, because sexuality is a common element in many other subjects," Ms Falzon explained. "On the other hand, PSD should also be extended to parents, some of whom still look down on PSD as 'a waste of time'. Parents have a lot to learn from such lessons."
It is also important to understand the responsibility the media, the film industry, the business world, advertising and the entertainment industry have towards this issue.
Meanwhile, local research is being undertaken among peer groups of adolescents who have not passed through the experience of a teenage pregnancy.
"While we often look at the increased incidence of teen pregnancies, little do we stop and think about the other side of the picture, that is, all those students and teenagers who were not drawn in to this life-changing experience. Therefore, while we study the areas which have not given the results one would hope for, we will also be studying those factors which have worked for the other, bigger group of teenagers," Mr Bugeja said.