Sexting, pornography, STIs, gender reassignment, same sex relationships, abortion, online grooming.
The government is asking the nation to give its views on what should be taught in sex education classes to all children in schools in England in a Call for Evidence, ending on 12 February.
Launched at the end of December, this government survey1 is designed to find out what ‘stakeholders’ (children/parents/ governors/interested people) think should be part of the English schools’ sex education curriculum as it is updated.
Positive opportunity
This is a positive opportunity to play a vital part in contributing to the moral direction the government intends to take with this teaching, in what is most likely to become a compulsory subject in all schools (state and independent) in England.
‘Pupils in England’s schools are currently taught about relationships, health and the wider world through Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) and/or Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) lessons. The Department for Education is looking into how these subjects can be improved and ensure pupils are being taught the knowledge they need to thrive in the modern world.’2 We ought to help them.
Who can fill it in?
Anyone, including children. You may not have children at school, either now or recently, but the survey gives an option, near the end, ‘from another organisation’, which if you are a church member, means you! (Assuming most churches will engage in some teaching on sexual morality, the criteria will be met by those without children, but who are church members.) There is a request for information on that organisation or school, but none of that information is mandatory; the page may be left blank. Therefore, although a reading of the survey implies that it is to be filled in by people who run ‘organisations’, e.g. groups teaching sex education, there is scope for anyone with an interest in sharing their views to do so, and there is no requirement to state which organisation you belong to.
Content
The survey will only read the first 250 words in each answer box. The boxes will take more than 250 words, so keep an eye on the word count.
For children, it asks what they’ve appreciated learning in PHSE/SRE lessons, and what they’d like to be taught.
For adults, the survey asks for opinions on PHSE and SRE separately within primary and secondary schools. Therefore, six suggestions can be made for each type of school. Additional questions are asked about the compulsory element to the subjects, the option to remove a child from lessons, communication with parents, and the impact of the digital world on children. This gives tremendous scope for comments to be made about the importance of celibacy and biblical marriage and the better outcomes for children where the need for a dad and mum is promoted. Even Prime Minister Cameron thought ‘Dad’ was vital to a family prior to 2013, when civil partnerships ‘created’ the pc ‘two parent’ family.3
‘I don’t agree’
At first glance, the answer to the entire consultation appears to simply be ‘Don’t teach this’ or ‘It’s the responsibility of the parent’. Both of these are understandable answers.
All parents are responsible for what their child is taught, Christians more so. The Bible is littered with instructions, from Deuteronomy to the New Testament, for fathers to train their children. Protecting them from, for example, sending or receiving explicit images of themselves or others may be something best done by not telling them about it, as otherwise they may try it. Indeed, without a phone, they won’t be able to do it; with a phone, they are unlikely to try it if it’s being monitored by a parent.
But what about phones, when they are older? Is it really protecting a child by not preparing them for the deviousness of people in the adult world? The issue of when and how all this is taught is key.
In the clichéd ‘ideal world’, parents would, at a time they felt was best, teach their children helpfully about all those tricky subjects. (Generally most children know about many of these topics much earlier than the parent assumes.) The teaching would be relevant and help the child to be able to robustly defend a biblical moral position and protect him/her from being dragged down into the murky world of the sex-obsessed society in which we live. But, as with all ideals, this isn’t universally true. Even Christian parents struggle to have frank conversations with their children about sex and relationships. Giving them a good Christian book to read about sex isn’t enough, if it doesn’t include discussion time with the parent.
Why bother?
Many children outside of the church have parents who are more than happy to evade their own responsibility and offload it onto schools. So, with the government knocking on the door of the nation’s Christians to ask for an opinion on the teaching of sex in schools, why not share some biblical advice? You have until 12 February to do this.
Christians are called to be salt and light in the world, and one way to do that is to share biblical morality with the nation. There may be a time when ticking the box ‘Christian’ will mean exclusion from the debate. For those in home school or independent settings, it is still in everyone’s best interest to get involved, as the teaching will be imposed upon every school, so the nation’s children will all be affected. The research and data which can be found here supplies information that broadly supports biblical teaching and will help you to fill in the Call for Evidence.
Public meeting
Another way to get involved and find out more would be to attend a public meeting at the House of Commons on 30 January from 4-6pm organised by Fiona Bruce MP. ‘Supporting Good Relationships in Education’ will be held in Committee Room 11. If you would like to attend, please phone 0207 219 3000 or email: fiona.bruce.mp@ parliament.uk or write to Fiona Bruce MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A OAA.
