Adults as well as children need to be educated if long histories of teen pregnancy within families are to be eradicated, a Government Minister has claimed.

Minister of Health and Family Services Nelson Bascome said there were too many families on the Island where young girls becoming pregnant was the norm.

He said: "Education is the way forward. People know what happens when you have unprotected sex.

"We have a long history, not only in Bermuda, but worldwide, of a number of families who repeat that behaviour of early pregnancy. It can be avoided with education.

"A big part of the issue is trying to break that cycle in getting the young people to understand the consequences of having sex at any early age.

"It is up to parents, as well as everyone in the community, to get that message across.'' The Royal Gazette revealed yesterday how the average age for a child beginning to experiment with sex in Bermuda was 13. Some are younger but many become sexually active before they have even left middle school.

About 55 girls aged between 15 and 17 get pregnant every year on the Island and 85 per cent of those are seen by Teen Services, a Government-funded agency set up to help young people in need.

Its director Michelle Johnson believes that many young girls fall pregnant and act like it is the norm because it happened to their mothers and grandmothers before them.

But, she said, it could happen to anyone. To break the cycle parents had to get the message of safe sex across to their children.

Mrs. Johnson is visiting middle schools this month around the Island with the help of pregnant 17-year-old Dana Brown in a bid to ask pupils to abstain from sex, or at the very least, be careful.

Next month she will step up her campaign when she takes Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month on the road.

But Mr. Bascome said it was his hope to raise the profile of teen pregnancy all year round in the future, rather than just for one month in the year.

He added: "Bermuda is definitely no worse than anywhere else.

"But we are making an appeal to the whole community, adults and young people, and children.

"We tend to think that it's the female that goes out and does this on her own. One of the things we have to do is make our young men more responsible, as well.

"That is a very big part of our problem. Young men don't feel responsible and we have to change that.

"One of the things I would really like to see is that we take this promotion beyond annually. I want to get the message across to young people all year around that the behaviour they are displaying is very counter-productive, not only to themselves, but it puts a lot of strain on the family and community.''