reality that school children are becoming sexually active at increasingly younger ages.

The campaign will also reflect a finding that youngsters know far more about sexual relations than the tale of "the birds and the bees'' divulges.

The campaign was the brainchild of Health and Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness. He was alarmed after learning how many teenagers and young adults knew of the danger of AIDS, but were not practising safe sex.

Last December he recruited top media and advertising professionals to come up with a concept to make young people change their lifestyles.

A planned back-to-school unveiling of the campaign is on schedule, Mr. Edness said yesterday.

The Advertising and Publicity Association of Bermuda, which agreed to work for free, will today reveal the national campaign to Mr. Edness and Education Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira.

It includes TV and print advertisements, which the media has agreed to run free, plus posters and other publicity material.

To come up with themes, the APAB conducted research at primary and secondary high schools Island-wide.

During interviews with groups of youngsters, members found children as young as eight and nine knew about oral and other forms of sex.

Head copy writer for the campaign Mr. John White, of Advertising Associates, said the themes would be based heavily on statistics and research gathered in the community over the last few months.

He added: "It will very much focus on young people, especially females and the pressures put on them by other young females.'' The message would not take on a preaching tone, but would hammer home that unsafe sex should not be condoned. The statistics gathered only reaffirmed what was believed to be going on among schoolboys and girls today, Mr White said.

But he conceded members had been shocked at the young age at which pressure was being applied to children, especially girls, to engage in sex.

Some members had "turned pale'' upon hearing the sexual knowledge and experiences of youngsters interviewed.

The United Bermuda Party, meanwhile, in a statement, said it fully supported Mr. Edness' stance on the distribution of condoms in schools.

"In accordance with his pledge as Minister, Mr. Edness is trying to save lives by taking a caring and realistic approach to a serious health problem,'' UBP executive officer Mr. Joe Gibbons said.

Mr. John White.