Older teenagers are to be encouraged to teach younger ones about the dangers of underage sex under new government plans aimed at reducing teenage pregnancy.

Britain currently has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the European Union. In the West, only the United States has a worse record, but that has been reduced by a series of innovative programmes.

Britain wants to do the same. The government's social exclusion unit report on teenage pregnancy backs the use of peer counselling in sex education.

Several UK schools already have peer counselling programmes to stop teenage pregnancy.

Take A Pause

In Exeter, sixth formers are being trained to teach younger secondary school pupils how to say no to sex.

The A Pause programme, based on research by Exeter University, provides information on contraceptives and sex as well as promoting an 'abstain until you are ready' message.

The programme copies successful programmes in the United States. In California, teenagers are trained to teach school children about sexual health and parents come to speak at schools and other youth centres about the hardship of having a baby at a young age.

Such sexual health programmes have been generously funded - about $100m was spent on them in 1997 and 1998.

They target a range of different groups of young people, from those in juvenile detention centres to particular ethnic groups such as the 'Be Proud, Be Responsible, Be a Man' project for young Latino boys run by a Mexican American group.

"We don't have the answer, so we throw everything at the problem," said Brenda Sharp, a community programme co-ordinator in Contra Costa County.

Dr John Tripp, who is behind the University of Exeter research, says teenagers should not feel they have to have sex unless they feel prepared "in every way".

"They should not feel pressured and should be prepared to deal with the dangers and manage them safely," he told the BBC's Panorama programme.

Dr Tripp added that teenagers find it very difficult to say no to sex when the crunch time comes unless they have been prepared to address the issue. Research proves that up to a half of all women who have sex under the age of 16 regret it later on.

Outercourse

Exeter also is pioneering a new course, Outercourse. It too uses peer educators and promotes abstinence from sexual intercourse but it has proved more controversial because it teaches about the pleasures of non-penetrative sex.

Dr Tripp says it aims to show that safe sex can be as fulfilling as intercourse. He adds that, contrary to family campaigners' views, there is no evidence that teaching about sex encourages children to be more interested in having it.

Other attempts to copy American programmes have proved less successful. Sex education projects like making contraceptives and advice more accessible to young people by putting drop-in centres in shopping malls have been accompanied by much controversy.

One UK project which gives confidential advice on sexual health to school children is the Tic Tac programme piloted at Paignton Community College in Devon. Tic Tac is a general health clinic, but doctors say about half of their inquiries are about sex.

Dr Deborah Avery, one of the local GPs who hold clinics at Tic Tac, said: "We don't just dish out pills and condoms. We talk about other issues, about being able to say no if you do not want to begin a sexual relationship, about peer pressure, about the emotional side of a sexual relationship and we encourage children to confide in a parent or a trusted adult."

Last year, about 500 pupils came to the clinic for advice and many others sought information.