UNITED KINGDOM — One of the unexpected nuggets of wisdom that the Family Planning Association (FPA) of Britain started its Contraception Awareness Week off with was the fact that one-third of all Britons think jumping up and down after intercourse can prevent pregnancy.Actually, they think that jumping up and down after washing out the vagina and urinating immediately after sex can prevent pregnancy, but it comes to the same thing ultimately: pregnancy.

According to the FPA, a recent study of basic sexuality facts by the group revealed that Britons experience “widespread confusion and misunderstanding,” which the group believes can be resolved by better education about sexuality and relationships.

“In today’s sexualized society, we are bombarded with a multitude of sexual imagery and messages,” FPA chief executive Anne Weyman explains. “Nevertheless, providing people with the information and skills they need to make positive choices about their health and lives is not considered a priority.”

Among the many things that half of all survey respondents did not know is that the time during which a woman is at her most fertile is between 10 and 16 days prior to her period. Likewise, 89-percent of those involved with the survey were unaware that sperm can live within a woman’s body for as much as a week. In fact, nearly a quarter of those who participated were convinced that pre-cum emitted by a man prior to ejaculation was pregnancy safe, containing no sperm.

This may help explain why the FPA found that a fifth of all pregnancies end in abortion.

Weyman sympathized with those who felt their lack of knowledge came from a dearth of sex education in school. In fact, 18-percent of those aged 18 to 65 said they’d never learned about any of these things in school. “None of us is born with the facts about sex and reproduction — we are taught them,” she points out. “If this doesn’t happen, myths start getting into circulation and people end up not being able to tell fact from fiction.”

It is this inability to distinguish between reality and word on the street that especially concerns Weyman and her associations. “If contraception isn’t used or if it fails, instead of seeking professional help and advice, people may take action that is completely ineffective in preventing a pregnancy.”