Over the past decade or so, Malta has changed. Much like the rest of the modern world, sex has become part and parcel of a night out for many teenagers.

It is no longer taboo among the younger generations, in fact it is more of a status symbol and people talk about it very openly. But figures issued in parliament on Wednesday night alert us to a problem which, if unchecked, is just going to creep up on us and grow.

Apparently, in 2009, there were a total of 83 teenager girls who gave birth and of these, 19 were under the age of 16. This means that these kids are having unprotected sex at the ages of 14 and 15 – probably even younger. Of course, this is a problem in itself – children under the age of 16 should not be having unprotected sex, and they definitely should not be raising children from such a young age. They should be finishing off school, hopefully continuing to college and on through university. But when one factors in another set of figures, we begin to realise that the problem runs even deeper. In 2009, there were 142 cases of reported sexually transmitted diseases and before anyone jumps on the ‘foreigner’ bandwagon, there were literally only a couple of people from overseas included in those figures. The diseases reported included various forms of Syphilis, Gonorrhea and Chlamydia.

While everyone knows that these diseases can cause discomfort and even psychological problems, we sometimes forget that if left untreated – they can create problems in later life for women when they wish to become pregnant. There is also the added risk of passing infection on to babies. Some sexual diseases cause deformities and even blindness to children who are born to carriers of some diseases. When we put this into the context of young children having unprotected sex and falling pregnant, it really does dawn on you.

We must not push the panic button. There are many youngsters in Malta who use protection and are responsible, but as we have seen time and time again, there are those who do not. And this does not cover the ones who are just plain fortunate in not getting pregnant.

But some sort of campaign needs to be set up to warn against the dangers of unprotected sex. It is harsh to say it, but a man can always walk away – not necessarily at birth – but there is nothing to stop a man from ditching his responsibilities. The saying ‘left holding the baby’ does not come from nowhere – its origins stem from women who were literally left holding a child when the father does a runner.

We are not saying that all men abdicate from their responsibilities, but as we have already mentioned, this ‘silent’ problem is growing all the time and simple soft words are not enough.

One would think that youngsters nowadays have enough exposure to modern television to know about STDs and how a pregnancy at such a young age can scupper one’s chances in life. But it is not enough. It is fact, shock advert campaigns work. We have seen them locally and on the international scene and they do have a limited effect in discouraging people from having unprotected sex, drink driving and taking drugs. But at the end of the day, one can only lead a horse to water – but you cannot make it drink. The information needs to be put out there, and it does need to be pushed in people’s faces. But whether or not they take heed of it is ultimately up to them. Scientifically of course, the best form of protection is abstinence until you find your trusted and long-term partner. But for those who do not believe in this approach, the least you can do to protect yourself is to use a condom.