Ministers will 'brainwash' 11-year-olds to think that sex outside marriage is fine

Pupils as young as 11 will learn that marriage is unnecessary because you can have "strong and supportive" relationships outside wedlock.

Scroll down for more...

New advice to teachers will also give them the green light to tell children about homosexuality as part of Sex and Relationship Education lessons.

Ministers are attempting to canvass pupils' views on sex education as part of a national review of the subject at primary and secondary level.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families' teenage pregnancy unit has funded a booklet, known as a "toolkit", which is aimed at secondary school teachers.

Critics yesterday attacked the publication, claiming that it promotes the view that there are "no rights and wrongs" when it comes to sexual relationships.

It was developed by the Sex Education Forum, which represents 50 organisations including children's and parents' groups. The forum is run by the National Children's Bureau, a children's rights charity that receives state funding.

Secondary teachers are being urged to download the booklet, Are You Getting It Right?, from the forum's website.

The organisation says it will help teachers "canvass young people's opinions on what 'they' think they should learn at various ages".

Scroll down for more...

It suggests carrying out a simple exercise in class to discover children's views. A series of moral statements are read out about marriage, sex and homosexuality and children have to stand on pieces of paper marked "agree", "disagree" and "unsure".

Pupils are supposed to make up their own minds but the document also provides teachers with the answers ministers believe are correct. These answers should be read aloud to pupils after they have finished the exercise, the document states.

They include:

Homosexuality can be discussed as part of school lessons. Agree.

You don't have to be married to have a strong and supportive relationship. Agree.

Schools should only teach Christian values. Disagree.

Schools should tell young people not to have sex. Disagree.

Under this heading, the document says that it expects that schools will "give young people a clear understanding of the arguments for delaying sexual activity and resisting pressure".

Pupils' answers are then meant to be fed back to the national review of sex education lessons. Representatives from the forum sit on the Government panel heading the review.

Critics have already warned that the review is an underhand attempt to bring in compulsory sex education for primary pupils.

These fears were compounded by a Times Educational Supplement survey yesterday, which revealed that two thirds of primary teachers support compulsory sex education. Many want it for seven-year-olds.

Norman Wells, director of Family and Youth Concern, accused the forum of trying to manipulate impressionable youngsters.

"It's verging on brainwashing," he said. "The forum is committed to promoting the view that there are no rights and wrongs when it comes to sexual relationships.

"The authors of this toolkit are clearly aiming to steer children away from a belief in moral absolutes and encouraging them to think everything is relative.

"The only truly safe and healthy choice is to follow a clear moral code that keeps sexual intimacy within the context of a faithful and lifelong marriage."

Mr Wells said it was a "serious abdication of adult responsibility" to allow the curriculum to be shaped by the views of impressionable children.

However, Schools Minister Jim Knight has backed the booklet. "This toolkit will give schools practical ways of involving young people, to ensure they do get the information and support to make safe and healthy choices," he said.

Anna Martinez, head of the forum, said: "This is the first time that schools have a resource to consult young people about the content and teaching of their sex and relationships education, and use their feedback to improve the quality of SRE."