Sex education is poor, adults do not understand the needs of teenagers, and young people are generally naive about sex, believing that teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease will only affect the lives of other people.

This stark message was the theme of a frank drama, video and dance presentation in mid-July at the Wyvern Theatre by youngsters from Freshbrook in the Swindon Sexual Education Peer Project.

Group coordinator Rebecca Tanner said the ten young people had been working together for nearly a year to examine the issues affecting teenagers living in West Swindon, particularly on sexual health matters. "Adults don't realise how many 15 and 16 year olds are sexually active, but the sex education we get is not good enough.

"This is our attempt to get information across about how we live and how we learn about sexual issues in a way that is entertaining and blunt. We plan to take it around to youth clubs and schools so that other people can make the connections on sexual questions."

Youth worker Toni Robinson worked with the teenagers on their ideas and funding from the Prince's Trust M-Power Awards paid for professional directing from Kandu Arts and video making by Junk Television during the week before the presentation.