Education watchdog Ofsted has released a report on personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), stating that the standard of teaching in English schools is “not yet good enough.”
Ofsted found that there was a “lack of high-quality, age appropriate sex and relationships education in more than a third of schools” and that it “may leave children and young people vulnerable to inappropriate sexual behaviours and sexual exploitation.”
PSHE is not compulsory in schools. Ministers recently announced that the existing curriculum would be scrapped, leaving individual schools to decide the content of lessons.
Relationships
Regarding Sex Education, Ofsted found that:
“Students sometimes felt that there was too little teaching about relationships and too much emphasis on ‘the mechanics’ of reproduction.”
Pro-Family groups have often made the same point; that students are frequently taught about sex rather than the right relational context for sex.
Pornography
The report also suggests that children should be made aware of the harmful effects of pornography. The report says:
“The failure to include discussion of pornography is concerning as research shows that children as young as nine are increasingly accessing pornographic internet sites, and Childline counsellors have confirmed an increase to more than 50 calls a month from teenagers upset by pornography”.
Ofsted’s report comes shortly after the Sex Education Forum recommended that children should be taught that pornography is “not all bad.”
Marriage
Andrea Minichiello Williams of Christian Concern commented:
“It’s good to see that Ofsted has picked up on the importance of teaching about relationships. People have been saying for some time that children are being taught the ‘mechanics’ of sex without being taught about marriage as the right context for sex.
“Students rightly feel that this approach leaves them ill-equipped for healthy relationships. The stability that marriage offers is good for men, women and children and should be discussed and taught in the classroom. Thankfully groups like Explore are already doing this but there is a need for such initiatives to be more widespread”.
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