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The government advisory group on teenage pregnancy has some good ideas. But a more innovatory approach is needed

It's a small miracle. Sex is wrapped around every product and saturates television schedules yet a majority of young people still resist this hard sell and delay their first sexual experience until the age of 16, while 80 per cent are confident enough to insist that a condom is used.

Last week, the second national survey of sexual behaviour in Britain was published in The Lancet. The survey, which interviewed 11,000 men and women aged 16 to 44, also reveals that among 16 to 24-year-olds, 14.6 per cent of women and 19.7 per cent of men have slept with 10 or more partners. On the other hand, among those who had first had sex aged 13 or 14, 80 per cent of women and 40 per cent of men wished they had waited longer.

Every western European country has its quota of teenage mothers - but Britain leads the field. Sex does not necessarily lead to pregnancy but while confident, aspirational young people are more likely to avoid it, those who are particularly emotionally vulnerable do not.

Last month, the Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy, part of the government's strategy for halving pregnancy rates among the under-18s by 2010, published its second annual report. It recommends a confidential service in secondary schools offering advice on relationships, sex and free contraception; improved access to NHS abortions, and that personal and social education should become a compulsory part of the national curriculum.

In the Netherlands sex education isn't a one-shot inoculation confined to a few lessons. It's an attitude which says that sex isn't "bad" but a normal (and exciting) activity. At the same time, from primary school onwards, mutual respect, an awareness of health issues and the importance of contraception are also vital parts of the agenda.

In Britain, fewer than 15 per cent of males cite commitment as the reason for having their first sexual experience; in the Netherlands, 55 per cent of young men say they had their first experience of sex because they were in love.

The political right have always preferred ignorance and abstinence to sex education. Yet this attitude affects most severely the socially deprived. Free contraception in schools is vital but what's also important is the exploration of more innovatory ways to reach the third of young people at the bottom of the social pile - those under 14 who already believe that sex is a predatory act or that intercourse with a stranger is better than no "love" at all.