Today MP for the Rhondda Chris Bryant will be using the 10 Minute Rule in parliament to push Sex and Relationships Education back onto the political agenda. This is being proposed in collaboration with the National Children’s Bureau and the Sex Education Forum (further details here). Supporters have been glad to see sex education being returned to the political arena, while critics have expressed concern Mr Bryant’s proposals don’t go far enough as they still allow for opting out of sex education by parents and faith schools.
You may remember that under the previous Labour government sex education was set to become statutory. However in April this year the plans for compulsory sex education were dropped when the Conservative party failed to support amendments to the Children and Families Bill, partly due to opposition from faith groups and a predominantly anti sex education stance from many newspapers.
At the same time we saw public consultations from both the (then) Department for Children, Schools and Families and NICE on what could be included within sex education. With a particular focus on broadening out the current 2000 guidelines for sex and relationships education to move beyond education purely based on contraception, sexually transmitted infections and reproduction towards tackling issues such as confidence and assertiveness, negotiation and communication, avoiding coercion and awareness of difference. Alongside delaying sex and resisting peer pressure.
Young people have been requesting quality sex education for years, supported (for the most part) by parents. Unfortunately their needs are often overruled by a vocal minority of sex education opponents.
Sex education critics consistently argue sex education ‘hasn’t worked’. Implying we’ve had years of high quality, evidence based, tailored sex education schemes across the UK that have not delivered. Instead we’ve had a mixed bag of teaching that ranges from the excellent to the poor or absent, with teachers feeling unsupported and not confident to deliver.
It’s not that we don’t know what is needed to improve sex education or what young people and parents want covered. In the UK we simply haven’t had a good enough opportunity to ensure quality education is delivered. That doesn’t mean we simply provide more classes, what we need to do is focus our efforts to provide quality teaching by trained and supported teachers or other educators in collaboration with parents that is tailored to the differing needs of young people, and continually evaluated for quality and effectiveness.
With high STI rates, concerns over teen pregnancy and underage sexual activity ensuring young people get the relationships education they need is vital.
So putting sex education back on the map is something we all should support and keep in the public and political domain.
While in opposition the Conservative party opposed moves to make sex education statutory while giving conflicting messages such as David Cameron’s claims “We do need good sex and relationship education”. Now they are part of a coalition with the Liberal Democrats (who generally support sex education) and given Labour’s general commitment to statutory sex education, it will be interesting to see if the new government is more favourable about sex education, or continues to block it.
Given the recent outburst by Conservative MP Stewart Jackson on Twitter dismissing sex education and insulting sex educators it does not bode well that the future of sex education is now in the hands of a party whose politicians hold such views.
So please keep following this story and put pressure on your school, governors, healthcare providers and MP to ensure parents and young people are supported.
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Good news.UK Sex and Relationships Education back on political agenda today
Today MP for the Rhondda Chris Bryant will be using the 10 Minute Rule in parliament to push Sex and Relationships Education back onto the political agenda. This is being proposed in collaboration with the National Children’s Bureau and the Sex Education Forum (further details here). Supporters have been glad to see sex education being returned to the political arena, while critics have expressed concern Mr Bryant’s proposals don’t go far enough as they still allow for opting out of sex education by parents and faith schools.
You may remember that under the previous Labour government sex education was set to become statutory. However in April this year the plans for compulsory sex education were dropped when the Conservative party failed to support amendments to the Children and Families Bill, partly due to opposition from faith groups and a predominantly anti sex education stance from many newspapers.
At the same time we saw public consultations from both the (then) Department for Children, Schools and Families and NICE on what could be included within sex education. With a particular focus on broadening out the current 2000 guidelines for sex and relationships education to move beyond education purely based on contraception, sexually transmitted infections and reproduction towards tackling issues such as confidence and assertiveness, negotiation and communication, avoiding coercion and awareness of difference. Alongside delaying sex and resisting peer pressure.
Young people have been requesting quality sex education for years, supported (for the most part) by parents. Unfortunately their needs are often overruled by a vocal minority of sex education opponents.
Sex education critics consistently argue sex education ‘hasn’t worked’. Implying we’ve had years of high quality, evidence based, tailored sex education schemes across the UK that have not delivered. Instead we’ve had a mixed bag of teaching that ranges from the excellent to the poor or absent, with teachers feeling unsupported and not confident to deliver.
It’s not that we don’t know what is needed to improve sex education or what young people and parents want covered. In the UK we simply haven’t had a good enough opportunity to ensure quality education is delivered. That doesn’t mean we simply provide more classes, what we need to do is focus our efforts to provide quality teaching by trained and supported teachers or other educators in collaboration with parents that is tailored to the differing needs of young people, and continually evaluated for quality and effectiveness.
With high STI rates, concerns over teen pregnancy and underage sexual activity ensuring young people get the relationships education they need is vital.
So putting sex education back on the map is something we all should support and keep in the public and political domain.
While in opposition the Conservative party opposed moves to make sex education statutory while giving conflicting messages such as David Cameron’s claims “We do need good sex and relationship education”. Now they are part of a coalition with the Liberal Democrats (who generally support sex education) and given Labour’s general commitment to statutory sex education, it will be interesting to see if the new government is more favourable about sex education, or continues to block it.
Given the recent outburst by Conservative MP Stewart Jackson on Twitter dismissing sex education and insulting sex educators it does not bode well that the future of sex education is now in the hands of a party whose politicians hold such views.
So please keep following this story and put pressure on your school, governors, healthcare providers and MP to ensure parents and young people are supported.
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