Britain is trying to combat high teen pregnancy rates by providing schoolgirls as young as 11 with a range of contraceptives. The provisions are part of an initiative to lower the number of pregnancies among school-age children, but critics say the govenment’s Department for Children, Schools and Families has it all wrong.

The initiative includes telling girls they can wait to have sex, but also provides them with free condoms, pregnancy kits and “emergency contraception,” including the so-called morning-after pill, a post-fertilization abortion. The program is open to thousands of children, and parental consent or knowledge is not required.

A total of 226 schools reported administering the pill, with one school handing it out 345 times since 2003. Leicestershire’s Lutterworth School gave the pill to an average of two students per week in that time.

According to the London Telegraph, the news about the school program has angered anti-abortion groups. Some have stated that making the pill easily accessible to youngsters encourages sexual activity among children rather than discouraging it, while others say it undercuts laws establishing the age of consent.

A number of British school districts use mobile sexual health service providers, nurses, youth workers and “drop-in centers,” providing counseling and options for sexually active children and teenagers. The facilities are part of the government’s “extended schools” policy, which installs integrated health and social services inside the educational system.

Britain’s teen pregnancy rate remains one of the highest in Europe, and its abortion rate is also causing concern.

To find out whether additional government programs and funding for new initiatives dealing with the effects of sexual promiscuity will work, read the Trumpet’s March cover story, “Sexual Health: What Every High School and College Student Needs to Know.”