By Lynne Miles | 28 April 2005, 11:08

The Guardian today reports concerns from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the newest sexual fad amongst schoolchildren is daisy chaining - the practice of group sex (in a circle, or so the rather romantic name for this decidedly non-romantic practice would have it).

Apparently London teenagers are increasingly notching up a number of sexual partners of an evening even before their parents get home from work.

Now the more mischievous part of me is looking back on my schooldays and wondering whether daisychaining went on back then and I just wasn’t invited. But there is a more serious note, the RCN have expressed concerns that young girls are being persuaded, pressured or even forced into group sex situations as teenage boys emulate the wilder and better publicised night time activities of professional footballers (for a remarkably awful article about that, see here).

In addition to this, there are concerns that the children in question are not adequately protecting themselves from disease and pregnancy - the RCN cites the case of one 14-year old boy who has contracted HIV through sexual activity, believing he was not at risk of catching the virus.

It’s not that young women are incapable of making adult decisions about being sexually active alone, with a partner, or with a group of people. But the mainstreaming of porn in popular culture, amongst other factors, is pressuring young women into behaving in ways they might not otherwise choose to do and blurring the boundaries around consent.