What is it about the simple fact that having sex makes you pregnant that British teenagers do not understand?

There is no evidence to suggest young people are having any more sex here than their peers in, say, the Netherlands or Sweden. But many more are getting pregnant, and the abortion data out today suggests the millions of pounds spent on sexual health strategies by the government is still not working.

The number of terminations carried out on girls aged under 16 rose by 10 per cent in 2007 to 4,376 from 3,990 the year before. Last year, 163 abortions were carried out on girls under 14 in England and Wales, a 21 per cent rise on 2006.

So what is going wrong? Firstly, sex education is not as good as it should be. The only legal requirement made of schools is that they teach children the basic facts about human reproduction, as in science lessons. Even when schools go further and broaden it out to include discussions on relationships it is often low-calibre stuff, taught by embarrassed staff not qualified for the subject who hate doing it. Compare that to Holland where, for example, all young teenagers - boys and girls - are taught how to put a condom on a model erect penis properly and take it off again.

But schools are not the worst offenders. British parents simply do not talk to their children about sex, preferring to kid themselves that since they live in such a sexualised age their children know it all already.

Studies show fathers are particularly at fault.

A spokeswoman for helpline Parentline Plus, which is inundated with calls from anxious families who fear their sons and daughters are taking risks, said both parents must act more responsibly.

“We know from research that teenagers who talk to their parents about sex are more likely to delay having intercourse, have fewer partners and are more likely to use contraception,” she said.

“We need to engage parents more in this process, and fathers in particular, encourage them to talk to their children and not just assume it is a mother’s responsibility because she sees more of them.”

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