During an age when reality television dominates our screens, perhaps it was inevitable. But this week saw the start of a new series which, some will argue takes bad taste to a new low.

The Virgin Diaries offers viewers the chance to witness the real-life first sexual forays of a handful of confused, nervous, angst-ridden teenagers.

The youth entertainment channel MTV gave video cameras to ten teenagers and asked them to record their lives over a three-month period as they considered having sex for the first time. The result is a series which claims to be educational, but will outrage many parents.

The desire to know which of the ‘contestants' will lose their virginity and which won't is clearly seen as part of the draw for audiences. But if this is a depressing portrait of the sex lives of teenagers today, has anyone calculated the psychological damage of laying bare their lives before a television audience?

Craig Chatwin, now 17, and — surprisingly given the nature of the show — the son of a maths teacher and a professor of engineering, is filmed disappearing upstairs to his bedroom with his girlfriend Chloe.

Could there be a more unedifying sight. The producers of Big Brother must be green with envy. During the programme, Craig describes the moment, two months later, when he finally sleeps with Chloe.

‘After a month, we tried to have sex, but at the last minute I couldn't do it. It was embarrassing and I almost didn't talk about it on camera. But then I thought of all the teenage boys who might have similar experiences.

Craig was just one of ten willing and sexually inexperienced teenagers which MTV spent months searching for to take part in what many will see as little more than a freak show.

There was no reference, of course, to Britain's spiralling under-age sex problem, or the fact that the UK has the highest rate of teenage births in Western Europe.

If The Virgin Diaries attempts to portray itself as a social documentary, then its own publicity blurb suggests something far more salacious: ‘Sex: if you're not thinking about it now then chances are you have been in the last ten minutes.' The show has already attracted criticism from psychiatrists and teen experts.

One of those who must now reflect on having lost her virginity so publicly is Charlotte Morgan, who — on confessing what she'd done — muttered ‘oops!' before laughing.

She recalls: ‘I liked the idea of sex, but as I didn't want a relationship or a one-night stand with a stranger, I figured it wasn't going to happen. In the second month of filming I got close to my friend Noel, 18. We'd kissed a year before and I wondered if he'd be a good person to sleep with.

He adds: ‘It's alarming that anyone would even think of making a programme like this and rather depressing that we live in a society where it is regarded as entertainment.' The words of the youngsters in the programme remind us that the world of teenage sex can be anything but entertaining. ‘It's been quite hard to find someone who appreciates me for who I am,' says 16-year-old Debbie Felton, an A-level student, who lives with her mother and sister in North London. ‘I see sex as the ultimate step on the ladder. I've done everything else, but never felt ready to climb to the top. I go to a private girl's school but I've got a lot of male friends and like to enjoy myself on weekends.

Another teenager who ended up keeping his virginity is Liam Jacobs, 17, who lives with his mother, four younger brothers and a sister in South London.

Chervana, 18, lives with her mother and twin sister, Mel, in Surrey and is hoping to go to university. She says: ‘Mel slept with her boyfriend at 14. I'm not upset she's done something I haven't — that's her choice.' Penny Palmano, author of a parents' guide to teenagers, warns: ‘Losing your virginity — or even talking about losing it — is something terribly personal, and to air it on television just cheapens the whole idea of it, not just for those taking part, but those watching.

‘Programmes like these are part of the whole media pressure on teens to have sex. They read about it in magazines and see celebrities talking about it all the time. We are no longer teaching our children that sex should be part of a loving relationship.

‘We live in an age which worships television and where increasingly risqué shows such as Big Brother and Celebrity Love Island fill our screens. The chance to be on television is like the Holy Grail for many youngsters — whatever the personal cost.

Craig's father, Chris Chatwin, says that when his son first mentioned the show he had reservations about him taking part. ‘I suppose it seemed to him like quite a cool thing to do. I pointed out the negative things and said it might not be a bed of roses. He went into it with his eyes open and seems to be handling it. I wouldn't have banned him. I had a serious go at trying to dissuade him but he still wanted to do it. I think it's of benefit to other youths. Craig talked about how many condoms he'd used and the difficulties surrounding the use of them.

‘He seems open-minded enough to talk about it in public. He doesn't mind making a fool of himself. It's probably a good thing that these things are out in the open. That's what Craig thinks. ‘If he is prepared to reveal intimate details of what went on between him and a girl, that's his decision, although I suppose it makes it more interesting for MTV.' It certainly does — in fact one assumes that bosses at the station are delighted with the results of their little social experiment. MTV's UK managing director Michael Barry insists he is ‘proud' of the programme.

Perhaps most worrying is that for the participants who had sex for the first time during filming, none of their relationships seem to have lasted when the cameras stopped. Charlotte Morgan says: ‘Matt and I remain in touch, but we only dated for another two weeks after filming ended. I had a great time with Matt and didn't take it too seriously. I still wasn't interested in a relationship.

Certainly it's difficult not to feel that those teenagers who managed to hang on to their virginity had a lucky escape. Liam Jacobs, 17, who talked about the peer pressure to have sex says: ‘It was disappointing, but I'm still a virgin and very happy. Now I know there's no hurry to find a girlfriend and I'm not ashamed of waiting for someone special.' But in the end, it is impossible not to wonder what any of them got out of sharing their intimate thoughts and sexuality with millions of strangers. Perhaps one day, when they are older and wiser, they will look back and wish they'd kept such thoughts to themselves and preserved that private, sacred piece of their life for their own memories.

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