"Yeah, but do we have to know this for the test?"

I'm thinking of starting a weekly "Best Headline" award. But even if not, I think it's probably pretty safe to say this one should be in the running: Schoolkids to Be Asked to Consider Oral Sex. Surely it doesn't mean what it says, right? Right? Oh, think again, Skippy.

British school children are to be controversially asked to consider oral sex instead of intercourse as part of a drive to cut the country's high teenage pregnancy rate.

Sex education teachers are being trained to discuss with youngsters various "stopping points" on the road to full sex in a bid to reduce the number of teen pregnancies, the government said on Friday.

The idea is to encourage pupils to discover "levels of intimacy," including oral sex, which stop short of full sexual intercourse.

[. . .]

"The courses for teachers are to enable them to discuss various sex and relationship issues with pupils. One of those issues is oral sex," said a Department of Health spokeswoman.

"Oral sex is one of the 'stopping points' on the road to intercourse," she said, denying the advice was encouraging sexual activity.

"Another 'stopping point' is to hold hands" she added. (my emphasis)

Guys, I'm told, have taken to the new British sex education with extraordinary ardour and note-taking fury. Meanwhile, the girls are still debating the relative merits of the textbook.