Schoolchildren to be taught about same-sex relationships
November 6th, 2009
From September 2011 all 15-year-olds must receive at least one year of sex and relationship lessons and parents will no longer have the right to withdraw students from sex education lessons, Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, announced yesterday.
From next year all schools will have to teach personal, social, health and economic education to pupils from the age of five. Primary school children will learn about parts of the body, relationships and how to manage their emotions.
Secondary school children will learn about contraception, HIV and AIDS, pregnancy and different kinds of relationships - including same sex relationships.
The legislation will apply to all schools, including faith schools.
Under current rules, children in secondary school must only be taught the biological facts of reproduction, usually during science classes.
Although all schools must teach sex education, school governing bodies can determine their approach to the subject matter, in accordance with the ethos of their school. This means that a Catholic school could teach that homosexual relationships exist, but also teach that such relationships are sinful.
“You can teach the promotion of marriage, you can teach that you shouldn’t have sex outside of marriage, what you can’t do is deny young people information about contraception outside of marriage,” said Ed Balls.
“The same arises in homosexuality. Some faiths have a view about what in religious terms is right and wrong – what they can’t do though is not teach the importance of tolerance.”
Parents currently have the right to withdraw their children from all sex education lessons until the age of 19. From September 2011 parents may only withdraw children from lessons if the children are aged 15 or under.
England curently has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Western Europe.
I think that this is fantastic news, kids need to be taught all the facts and then they can make an informed decision about who they are and when they are ready for sex.
Let’s hope the teachers can get the message across without being embarressed - I still shudder at the shambles that was my sex education from a very red faced and shy teacher :(
Julie ∼ November 7th, 2009 5:13 pmGood news and a step forward. However, it should be noted that although schools must teach the importance of tolerance, they may still teach that same sex relationships are sinful and will still be able to teach this after the legislation has taken effect. I tolerate religious beliefs which believe my behaviour is sinful but question how useful teaching these beliefs to impressionable young people is for them.
Carter ∼ November 11th, 2009 12:04 pm