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Compulsory sex lessons at the age of five
Tim Ross, Education Correspondent23.10.08
CHILDREN as young as five will be taught about sex, drugs and alcohol in compulsory lifestyle lessons, ministers announced today.
Pupils need schools to help them cope with the dangers of modern life such as binge drinking and substance abuse, according to the Government.
But the quality of personal, social and health education is "patchy", as many teachers are embarrassed to discuss topics such as sexuality in class.
Ministers said putting social education on the national curriculum for five- to 16-year-olds would help cut teen pregnancy rates and binge drinking.
However, headteachers warned making the subject compulsory was the wrong approach. It will also anger campaigners who believe young children should not be exposed to sex education.
Britain has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the developed world. Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise among younger people, as is binge drinking.
Schools Minister Jim Knight said making social and health education compulsory was "a bold move and a necessary one". He added: "Modern life is increasingly complex and we have a duty to equip our young people with the knowledge and skills to deal with it.
"We need structured classroom teaching ... Parents bring up children, but schools can help guide them."
Mr Knight said the system would be flexible enough to allow schools to take parents' values into account.
Reader views (15)
It is a totally insane idea, have the ministers lost their minds, why they are plying with children's lives by introducing silly laws etc
- Abdullah, London
The point is, Roz, that the parents should know what their children need to know and when. I dare say that in France they also get taught to read and write, and I'm also doubtful that what happens there on the sex education front is any guarantee it will be the same over here once the loony liberals get their input.
- Paul, London, UK.
This will not stop teenage pregnancy. A lot of these girls deliberately get pregnant to get a council house. The fathers clear off and 15 years down the line a violent nasty breed of youth appears.
Thanks for that girls, thanks a bunch.
- Steve, London, UK.
Specific sex education Vs biology lessons. Something wrong when it's unnecessary. As was mentioned - parents will already have answered many of the questions already.
- Rogan, Irving, UK.
Nu Labor go away!
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London.
Over the years we've had more and more sex education, with the result that more young children have sex and the prevalence of STDs has risen inexorably.
The solution? Even more sex education. It beggars belief.
The left-wing dogmatists in the employment of the State will never admit they're wrong.
- Steve, Solihull, UK.
You know what our children need? A safe, clean country to live in and a decent chance of an education. Maybe Labour could concentrate on providing these basics before they worry about teaching children about sex 10yrs before they will become sexually active!
- Mark, London
It's a great idea: it's part of the curriculum from 5 in France, too. Everyone is ramping it up like the teacher is going to show kiddies an x-rated video: in reality, any parent with 2 children has probably already answered questions as to how the second one arrived in the world. I recently saw an excellent film that my 5 year old son will be shown at school about sexual abuse: it was pitched perfectly at the right level to given them enough knowledge to protect themselves. It is common sense to teach a 5 year old that they deserve respect and that there are parts of their body no-one may touch and how to get help if it happens. If it was called 'seting comfort-bounderies' and if 'sex education' was called 'biology' there would be much less fuss.
All 5 year olds wipe their own bottoms and 'sex education' does not have to mean 'carnal knowledge'!
- Roz, Chamonix, France
Your child now enters school at the age of 4-5 in uniform before they properly wife their own bottoms!
Why on earth would such young children require any carnal knowledge.
- Duncan Chorley, London, England
It really is the job of the parents to do this, but lots of parents don't do it very well. My mum told me that boy bits and girl bits were different, and where babies come from round about the time she had my sister, so I would have been 3. But that's really all you need to know until you are just pre-puberty - about 9 for girls.
They would do better to focus on areas where there are cycles of teenage pregnancy - teen mums begetting more teen mums etc There are more factors at play than just how much people are told at school, such as social deprivation, broken homes, areas where teen pregnancy is seen as the norm, and even teenage boredom.
- Claire, London
Whats the betting that the curriculum will contain a strong recommendation of gay lifestyles? Who is running the UK now? What is their game plan?
- Jules_London, london
After 11 years of leftie liberal teaching, the kids can't write their own names in many cases, but will be bombarded with sexual messages. Any "teacher" giving a five year old child of mine sex education would have cause to regret it, trust me. New Labour are becoming creepier by the day.
- The Gene Genie, Croydon
Who sits around thinking this crap up, ah yes the ultra left fanatics that insist on meddling in any and every thing? A 5 year old has no comprehension of alcohol, drugs and so forth, this should be taught at a later age, maybe 9 or 10?
- Brandon Thomas, London UK
This Govt is just determined to detroy any vestige of joy left in this country.
- Squiz, Islington
There's not been so much right on nonsense spoken about what children need since the sixties. Why not let children be children for as long as possible, and then when we do start educating them trying something really contoversial like reading, writing and arithmetic?
- Paul, London
