TONGUES are wagging on Coronation Street again as 13-year-old Sarah Lou Platt discovers she's pregnant - and the soap's latest plot has got East Lancashire professionals talking too. The under 16-pregnancy rates in East Lancashire are some of the worst in western Europe, with nine in every 1,000 local schoolgirls conceiving. Health and education workers are doing their best to stem the rising tide of teenage pregnancies, but what can be done to help all the real-life Sarahs before it's too late? AMY BINNS reports.

DRAMA and disaster are the staple diet of soap operas, but Coronation Street's latest plot is one that's played out over and over in East Lancashire households.

A woebegone teenager has to confess the worst to her parents - their baby is about to have a baby of her own before she's even out of school.

Teenage sexuality expert Ann Crichton, manager of Blackburn's Brook Advisory Centre, is pleased to see producers publicising the issues of sex and its consequences for youngsters.

She believes girls like unlucky Sarah Lou Platt, who claimed she had only had sex once, really do exist and need help.

Mrs Crichton said: "It's very, very rare for a 13-year-old to get pregnant and it's getting rarer for the very young girls, but teenage pregnancy as a whole is rising."

Doctors at Brook Advisory Centre, which gives information and contraception to young people, do see girls who have become pregnant after having sex just once, and very young girls are more likely not to realise they are pregnant, she said. The youngest pregnancy dealt with at the centre last year was a 14-year-old, but girls as young as 12 have asked for tests.

"It's important that young people are properly informed about sex and contraception. There's a lot of evidence that the more information people have, the more likely they are to delay the time they have sex," she said.

"It's probably a good thing that the whole issue of teenage pregnancy gets aired and discussed, but it depends on how the storyline develops."

Head teacher David Hinks, who oversees a comprehensive sex education course at Towneley High School, also believes in giving children all the facts.

Children learn about their bodies when they are 11 and 12, and study reproduction and contraception at 13. At 14, they learn about the emotional side of relationships, and find out about sexually transmitted diseases, and at 15 discuss the responsibilities of marrying and having children.

Mr Hinks said: "We push the idea of sex within a loving, caring relationship but it's difficult to promote marriage when many pupils are from broken homes.

"Some people say it encourages them to experiment but I believe giving them the information empowers them to make choices. They are more aware of what might happen."

If Sarah Lou had gone to Towneley High, she would have known that even one moment of passion can lead to pregnancy and she wouldn't have had to wait for mum Gail to take her to the doctor - pupils are told where the local clinics are. But Mr Hinks believes even the best sex education cannot stop all teenage pregnancies. He said: "For some of our girls, becoming pregnant is a way of getting a lot of attention and help which they have never had before.

"They don't think about the future, and in the short term it's a way of bolstering up a life that might be fairly miserable."

The Rev Ken Howles, of St Bartholomew's CE Church, Ewood, also believes that there's more to the problem than lack of information.

He believes stricter morals should be taught. He said: "It's very sad that there is no innocence anymore - children are actively involved in sexual relationships when they are only 13.

"Morality in this country is sadly slipping. Promoting safe sex is always important, but sex within the confines of marriage should be promoted as God's ideal. "Just because a lot of marriages break down, that doesn't mean that's not what we should promote. Promoting sex within a loving relationship is fuzzing the edges of the issue."

What do you think? Write to: The Editor, Lancashire Evening

Telegraph, Newspaper House, High Street, Blackburn. BB1 1HT.

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