Figures released recently to TDs by the former Minister for Education, Micheal Martin, show that only one in four children in primary school receives relationship education. A survey by the Department showed that three-quarters of primary schools and one-third of second-level schools have still not implemented relationships and sexuality education (RSE) programmes.

Media headlines give the illusion that conservative groups opposed to RSE are to blame for the delays in bringing in these very necessary and much needed programmes. They are not, because the public do not support their views.

Even the most cursory of examination shows that the reasons why RSE programmes are not being implemented has little to do with the conservative lobby. It has to do with reluctance on the part of teachers. Many who feel they have neither the skills nor the training to give effective sex education are aware that pupils will sense their discomfort and make teaching difficult.

Others are unwilling to get involved because they are afraid of the sensitive issues that sexually active students will bring up in the classroom. This is also relevant in the senior cycles in national schools.

Primary teachers are well aware that many of their young pupils are not the "little innocents" their parents think. It is not unusual to find one or two girls in fourth class who are menstruating. By the time they reach sixth they are well developed and some are "meeting" or "shifting" boys - what we adults call "French kissing".

Surveys in other countries show one in three teenagers has engaged in oral sex by the age of 15. Almost a third of 16- to 18-year-olds are having full intercourse and of these, about a quarter have engaged in genital intimacy with three or more partners.

This high-risk behaviour can lead to potentially very serious, even fatal consequences. There is great concern about the reaction of parents opposed to teaching students about being sexually responsible and using protection.

There is no denying that many parents are influenced by the lobby that claims that information will encourage young people to experiment sexually. Research studies show that the opposite is true, provided it is given before young people become sexually active.

Parents are the primary educators of children, and in some dysfunctional families children learn poor relationship skills. Teachers know that if they once accept the responsibility of teaching a relationships programme, they will be expected to be sensitive to family situations - without adequate psychological services to deal with the problem situations that will be revealed.

It is incredibly difficult for any teacher to be sensitive to parents who hold diametrically opposing views. For example the more traditional family may be totally opposed to premarital sex, while more liberal parents may never have married and believe that it is acceptable. Some parents believe young people will have sex anyway, and rather than deal with an unwanted pregnancy suggest they take precautions.

In no other area of education is a teacher likely to be confronted with questions that will challenge their own personal attitudes and moral values. Effective RSE programmes allow students the freedom to discuss issues in a real way. In many classes this may create problems for students or teachers who are in irregular family situations.

Pupils who are curious are bound to ask about what they read. For example, one of the more popular teen magazine illustrates sexual positions and grades them in difficulty on a scale of one to five.

FAILURE TO acknowledge that a significant number of young people are sexually active puts both health and fertility at risk. Young people who engage in unsafe sexual practices without adequate information are at risk of infection with life-threatening diseases.

Sadly, many parents feel they cannot talk to teenagers about these issues. They expect teachers who have special training to do it for them.

The media blame the rising number of teenage pregnancies on inadequate sex education and fail to take account of the self-esteem and family issues that have a much greater influence on teenage sexual behaviour.

One can understand why teachers are happy to let the public believe that conservative elements are preventing RSE programmes being implemented in our schools. It takes the pressure off them.

Tragically it leaves peer-educated young people, who learn about sex outside the context of healthy, loving, committed relationships, vulnerable to potentially fatal consequences.

Next week, Carmel Wynne looks at the questions that come up in schools and problems teachers have teaching RSE.

Carmel Wynne teaches RSE in both primary and post-primary schools.