Parental concerns over sex education should not be ‘brushed aside’, says bishop
from Christian Today:
The Bishop of Durham has voiced concerns that the Government is failing to give proper consideration to the concerns of religious parents around new relationships and sex education lessons.
Addressing the House of Lords, Bishop Paul Butler said that he was “deeply concerned” that relationships education was not being made optional for primary school children.
The change is being introduced by the Government in the biggest overhaul of relationships and sex education in schools in 20 years.
Under new legislation, parents will have the right to opt their children out of sex education at the primary school level, but not relationships education.
The changes, coming into effect in September 2020, will also limit the ability of parents to opt their children out of sex and relationships classes in secondary school, with head teachers reserving the right to enroll them in “exceptional circumstances” and students being able to decide for themselves after the age of 15.
The lessons have come under scrutiny because of concerns that they will undermine the rights of parents, particularly those of faith, to raise their children in line with their own beliefs.
Bishop Butler commended the legislation for placing the lessons within the “wider personal development of character, virtues and values”.
“Conversations about relationships will be empowered by discussions of honesty, courage and humility,” he said.
“Sex education is crucially paired in this framework with conversations about relationships: an incredibly important shift in how the curriculum is constructed.”
However, he suggested that it was not appropriate to teach relationships lessons to primary school children.
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