A Government report has revealed that most parents want sex education to be taught within a clear “moral context” with a particular emphasis on abstinence before marriage.
Consultation
Last year, the Department for Education (DfE) consulted the public about its views on making sex and relationships education (SRE) compulsory in schools, and asked respondents what they believed the core outcomes of the subject should be.
A report on the findings of the consultation, published by the DfE, revealed that 52 per cent thought that it was “essential” for SRE to place sexual relationships “within a clear and objective moral context”.
Value
They also believed that schools should place an emphasis on the legal age of consent, promote the idea of abstinence and teach children to “value their own bodies”.
“They mentioned it was important for pupils to know their own self-worth, to have self-respect and learn to value their own bodies," the report said.
"Respondents were of the opinion that commitment and fidelity in sexual relationships were no less important than sexual consent, and the emphasis should be on having respect for themselves and others.
“It was also put forward that teaching about ‘abstinence’ before marriage should be taught alongside contraception.”
Non-statutory
Last week, Education Minister Liz Truss announced that Personal Social Health Education (PSHE) will remain a non-statutory subject.
Concerns were raised that making sex education compulsory in schools would “promote relativism” and encourage sexual experimentation among young people.
But ministers have said that teachers are “best placed to understand the needs of their pupils” and do not need “central prescription.”
The subjects’ trade body, the PSHE Association, will be given a DfE grant to provide advice to schools, who will be required to draw up their own curriculum.
Ofsted has also been asked to issue guidelines for schools on how they can teach the subject well.
Comment
Andrea Williams of Christian Concern said: "These findings highlight that most parents are unhappy with the contraceptive-based teaching underlying current sex and relationships education.
“Such teaching makes a mockery of age of consent laws, and encourages premature sexual activity among young people with damaging and far-reaching consequences.
“Children need to be protected from the liberal sexual ethic underlying Britain’s ‘contraception culture’ and taught about the benefits of abstinence before marriage.”
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