Teaching students about sexuality as part of the educational system is the responsibility of the government because sexual health is part of youth development, according to Alternattiva Demokratika’s youth section.

Dirk Urpani, from the Green party, was reacting to Gozo Bishop Mario Grech’s “astounding” comments made last Sunday during a conference.

Mgr Grech said the education system might be abusing students if, instead of helping them to control their sexual energy, it taught them about contraception.

The comments enraged GU Clinic head Philip Carabot, who for years has campaigned for a holistic sexual health policy, which was finally promised later this month. Mr Urpani said giving the impression that sex education only included information about contraceptives was unfair and misleading because it included information on other themes such as sexually transmitted infections and self-respect.

“Malta is among the countries with the highest teenage pregnancy rate. This is only one side of the coin because sexually transmitted diseases among youth are also on the rise in the Malta and Gozo. Clearly, young people need more education, including about to use of contraception,” Mr Urpani said.

In reaction to this, Gift of Life – a pro-life lobby group – said the main reason why Malta had a high rate of teenage pregnancies was because it did not have legal abortion. This meant teenagers actually gave birth to their babies in Malta when compared to other countries.

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