Holland - Sex Education

Teenagers in Holland practise safe sex and less than one per cent of them get pregnant every year compared to six per cent in England. Can the Dutch approach to sex education take the credit?

Much of the country's success can be attributed to the Dutch culture of tolerance and pragmatism which allows children to talk openly about sexuality with their parents at home.

But because Holland's sex education teachers aren't bound by a national curriculum, they also help to keep the teenage pregnancy rate down by teaching children about sex in very different ways.

In Amsterdam's Lyceum, biology teacher Ruud Winkel discusses sexuality by getting his students to question each other from specially prepared cards. As with many teachers in Holland, Ruud's approach is direct and informal.

But according to Yuri Ohlrichs at the Dutch Sexuality Centre, not all in children in this multicultural society have experienced communicating so explicitly.