Call for compulsory sex education

By Sarah Cooper Wednesday, 09 April 2008

Sex education lessons should be a legal requirement, a group of sexual health experts has said.

Sex education toolkit. Credit: FPA

Lucy Emmerson, senior development officer of the Sex Education Forum at the National Children's Bureau (NCB), told a Westminster Health Forum meeting last week that classrooms were the right place for disseminating information about sexual health.

She said lessons were ideal since it means young people receive consistent advice. "To achieve good quality sex and relationships education (SRE) in the classroom some principles must apply. Teachers need training," she said. "Personal, social and health education (PSHE), including SRE, needs to be recognised as a subject in the National Curriculum."

Sue Greenwood, a sex and relationship education development worker at Norfolk County Council, said: "I am wondering at what point the government will say PSHE should be statutory. Schools are not going to give priority to this subject unless it is statutory since there's so little room in the National Curriculum."

But Gareth Davies, youth leaders project manager at sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust, said more was being done in schools than ever before. "We have come a long way to be addressing SRE in schools, adding schools now need to be less negative about the experience of sex.

Delegates at the meeting also discussed how to include parents in sex education and help them teach their children.

Emma Croghan, an independent nurse consultant, said parents should be taught what to say to their children and when to say it. Glamour magazine's sex and relationships coach Tracey Cox added: "We should be running classes for parents as well as for the children."

But Robert Sassoon, a member of the UK Youth Parliament, said he knew of many young people who would rather have sexual health advice from professionals. "Having spoken to many friends, not many do speak to their parents," he said.

Andrea Duncan, programme manager for sexual health and HIV at the Department of Health, told delegates there will be a meeting this month with regional professionals that will discuss the development of sex advice skills.