The adults often prefer not to talk about it at all – which reinforces the views of many young people that sex is something that only the young understand. If the adults do try to talk about it, they run the risk of over-reacting, placing unrealistic rules or constraints. All in all, sex has always been a generational battleground.
Two items in the news have brought this home to me. First, large numbers of parliamentarians had been urging the Education Secretary Nicky Morgan to agree to the long-standing proposal that personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) – and especially sex and relationship education (SRE) - should become a statutory part of the national curriculum. But she has declined. Her letter was a classic of its type – basically, it said something like: "I agree it is very important that all pupils should receive good quality SRE, but I don't agree that we should take the steps necessary to make it happen".
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