Sex and Relationship Education: should it be compulsory in schools or not?
by Philippa Taylor, Christian Medical Fellowship:
The Government has just announced major changes to Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) in all schools, from age four.
[…] But does making SRE compulsory really make sense?
Well, according to the logic of the LGA STI’s are caused by a lack of compulsory SRE!
Clearly that is not the case but can it still somehow be argued that compulsory SRE will lead to a fall in new cases of STIs or sexual harassment and sexual abuse?
First, contrary to most media messaging, the vast majority of pupils in school do receive sex and relationships education, much of it delivered by specialist teams funded and provided by local government. Whilst already compulsory in state schools, it is only Academies and Independent Schools where it is not compulsory, and the majority of them take this area of education just as seriously as every other element of the curriculum and every other school.
And yet, despite widespread SRE, and despite over £250 million being poured into cutting teen pregnancy rates over the last 40 or so years, the number of STI’s among young people continues to rise faster than any other group.
Why? Because STI’s are not caused by a lack of sex education, they are caused by promiscuous sexual behavior.
So looking logically at the facts and stats, it surely makes more sense to conclude that it is sex education that is not working, so making it compulsory is simply imposing a wider duty to do something that manifestly doesn’t work.
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