The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which advises Government on public health issues as well as approving drugs for use on the NHS, has said that children as young as five should be taught about sex and alcohol.
On 16th June NICE called for improvement in the way sex, relationship and alcohol issues are taught to children. It plans to write to every primary school in the country advising them to start teaching sex education to pupils from the age of five.
NICE’s draft guidance to schools says that sex education in primary school should begin with lessons on how to value friendships and respect other people. The guidance came out on the same day that NICE rejected a life-extending drug for non-small cell lung cancer on the grounds of cost effectiveness.
The Guidance also states that parents should be involved with the offer of parenting classes to help them talk to their children about sex, relationships and alcohol, and homework should be set to encourage discussion of these issues at home.
Currently, sex education is not compulsory in English schools – and even where it is taught, parents have the right to withdraw their children from the lessons.
But the guidance from NICE – albeit in draft form – will put greater pressure on head-teachers to provide sex education at an earlier age.
At present, the only part of sex education, taught at secondary school, that is compulsory is the science element – the human reproductive system and how babies are made. Guidance from the Department for Education suggests that from the ages of five to seven, children should learn the names of parts of the body, how people change as they get older, the difference between right and wrong, and that friends and family should care for one another.
The guidance suggests children should to be given lessons which are ‘factually accurate, unbiased and non-judgmental’, tailored to each age group, and taking into account ‘cultural, faith and family’ issues.
Professor Mark Bellis, Director of the Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University, and Programme Development Group member said:
‘For most children, attitudes to alcohol start to develop long before they begin to drink.
‘Parental drinking, advertising and sponsorship ensure that children can grow up in environments steeped in references to alcohol. Even at an early age, children require a basic understanding of alcohol, the part it plays in society and the dangers relating to its use.
‘This draft guidance identifies the importance of continually building up children’s understanding of alcohol throughout their development in ways which are sensitive to their personal needs and circumstances. It makes clear that this is something best achieved through the involvement of well prepared teachers, parents and health professionals.’
Ministers are looking at sex and relationships education as part of a wider overhaul of the curriculum, the Department for Education commented.
The guidance is open for comment via the NICE website until July 15 and final guidance is expected in January 2011.