School nurses are struggling to cope with growing problems of sexual promiscuity and exploitation among Britain's teenagers, the Royal College of Nursing said yesterday.
It identified a new craze in London schools known as "daisy-chaining", involving group sex among boys and girls visiting each other's homes and having sex with several partners before their parents get home from work.
School nurses told the RCN annual congress in Harrogate that it was also becoming more common for gangs of boys to persuade or force a girl to have sex with them all, modelling behaviour on tabloid reports about the excesses of professional footballers.
They gave the example of a 14-year-old boy who contracted HIV as a result of sexual activity. When diagnosed, he protested: "HIV can't happen to me, it only happens to older people."
Liz Allan, the chair of the school nurses forum, said details and locations of such sexual activity were being withheld to protect the children, but the RCN wanted parents to know the sexual pressure on young people, which came to light in confidential talks with school nurses.
Although the service was established to deal with nits, immunisation and eye tests, it is now grappling with the medical and psychological problems of youngsters exposed to drink, drugs and sexual exploitation.
There are about 3,000 school nurses in the UK, employed by the NHS, local authorities and independent schools, but about twice that number are needed.
School nursing, the RCN said, needed a makeover similar to that of school lunches by the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.
Ms Allan said some young people were pressured into granting sexual favours to stay safe in a gang culture, while others used it as a way of proving their adulthood.
"I find it difficult to grasp the extremes of cruelty that are experienced by children in our society," she said. "Most school nurses at some time in their career will work with children and young people who are subjected to sexual exploitation ...
"These are children who are being exploited sexually who prostitute themselves as a result of coercion, violence, trafficking." Some also sold sexual favours because they wanted the money.
Judy McRae, a sexual health nurse in London, said: "Colleagues are coming across reports of young people having sex in large groups. It is known as daisy-chaining and is obviously very worrying as far as sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy is concerned.
"As we understand it, it involves groups of older teenagers going round to each other's homes and having sex ... It is very new and is only just starting to be talked about."
The RCN surveyed more than 1,200 school nurses in the UK and found 90% gave sex advice. About 65% supported youngsters with substance abuse, 80% with bullying and 90% with obesity problems.
