To be really, really pleased about the explicit ban on the proactive teaching of gender identity?

Schools didn't screw up, the government did, their previous guidance explicitly said that schools should teach gender identity, with links to Stonewall as to how to approach it.

agreed.
i feel like some only read the bit about trans? not the part about no educaiton around sexual assault or rape until age 13? which is not a good thing.

I think it's a very vain hope Scotland will do the same thing. They'll probably introduce trans ideology at nursery level instead. They've been after our children for a long time. Their Named Person batshit crazy attempt to isolate parents from children didn't work so they've pushed the trans agenda hard and will probably push it even harder now. Two fingers to Westminster is always more important than safeguarding.

The topic isn’t banned at schools, what is banned is promoting GI as a fact. So those children who don’t have ‘caring’ parents can still ask about it, but teachers cannot push their own ideology and encourage them to believe they can and should change sex.

@SwordToFlamethrower it seems Dr Jessica Taylor hasn't read the document at all if she thinks it bans sex ed before age 13. There's a whole section about sex education in primary schools and only says that there are some topics that should not be addressed in primary school. It doesn't say that there should be no sex education before age 13. There are quite a few things that are recommended to be taught in years 5 and 6.

"By the end of primary school pupils should know ... How to recognise if family relationships are making them feel unhappy or unsafe and how to seek help or advice if needed ... the importance of respecting boundaries including permission-seeking ... how to recognise and report feelings of being unsafe or feeling bad about any adult ... how to report concerns or abuse and the vocabulary and confidence to do so" - that's all in there for years 5 & 6 as well as guidance for basic age-appropriate sex eduaction and that that this should link to what is already in the national curriculum for science in Y5&6 for learning about conception and birth.

What is set out as inappropriate before age 13 is going into the detail of sexual offences, rape, sexual abuse and violence and exploitation, in explicit and potentially distressing ways.

There's another list of things that shouldn't be covered before age 11/y7 like sexuall harassment, upskirting, revenge porn & force marriage

While neither I nor anyone I knew used those terms when I was an adolescent in the Dark Ages 80s, adolescents and teens absolutely do and did feel uncomfortable with growing breasts, breaking voices, sudden smelly sweat, periods and all the rest of it.
Puberty is normal, yes, but it is and has long been very difficult and disruptive as well. I don't disagree about exercise, socialising etc being a good idea, but there were many points in my adolescence when going for a walk or cooking something would not have helped me feel any less terrified of my changing body and mind.
I think the important thing is that kids are taught that, however much they may dislike or fear having breasts/a deep voice/erections/whatever, these do not mean that they can –or should – identify away from their sexed body, or that suddenly having a deep male voice means they may not continue to like painting their nails unless they call themselves Sheila.

I tend to agree with this. I think it should be taught in the same way as comparative religion: with an awareness that some/many people believe in and live by it but with complete clarity that it is a belief and exists alongside scientific fact.

The evidence shows that if children are taught in an age appropriate way about the correct terms for body parts alongside things like personal boundaries and who is and is not allowed to touch, this has a protective effect. Sex ed for young primary age is not explicit, and nobody has suggested it should be.

That young girl who is vulnerable to sexual abuse will be able to ralk about it and raise the alarm if she has been taught key basics young.

Please can you provide an example of gender identity in Shakespeare? (Obviously not just actors and characters dressing up as the opposite sex because women couldn't be actors/characters pretending to be the opposite sex for the plot).

This is important as it gives a specific breakdown of what age each topic has.

@SwordToFlamethrower I may be misunderstanding what Taylor is saying but I'm chilled to the bone by the suggestion that the way to help a nine or ten year old girl who is being sexually abused is to provide her with explicit sex ed.

There's a lot of willful mis-reading about what that guidance says

It doesn’t say periods won’t be taught about?! Most schools seem to cover that in year 4/5 anyway so about age 9. It’s under PHSE/biology not sex Ed.

@Blonkets where in the UK are kids being taught critical race theory?

I agree with this 100%. Children should be taught scientific fact. If that upsets some people, so be it.

I don't agree with later teaching of sex education. We know that children are being exposed to all sorts of harmful online content and they need to be taught appropriately and safely well before they start to access the wrong sorts of explicit material online. When I was at primary school in the 90s, a peer told me her older brother had shown her pornography. We'd have only been about 8 or 9 then. I dread to think what kids are seeing now.

This is interesting, from Dr Jessica Taylor, on Facebook today:

"On the new government guidance being released tomorrow.

If you’re a ‘feminist’ celebrating the fact that schools will be banned from delivering direct sex education to under 13s just because you disagree with views around gender, it’s time to admit this was never about ‘feminism’.

You cannot ignore the rest of the guidance just for the bit you agree with.

Girls start their periods anywhere from 8-17 years old. They need to know everything. They have a human right under UNCRC to be informed about issues that impact their body and their personhood.

1 in 4 girls will be sexually abused before the age of 12 in the UK (according to NSPCC stats)

Girls are bombarded with sexualised imagery from birth, meaning that research demonstrates that they self-sexualise from the age of 7, and see themselves as sex objects/via the male gaze according to APA Taskforce on Sexualisation of Girls.

50% of 10 year olds watch porn regularly according to NSPCC data, and Pornhub openly admit that at any one time, 1 in 10 of their DAILY 115 million visitors are young children.

The proposed ban on teaching under 13 and 14 years old about porn, abortion, sex, STIs and other ‘explicit’ issues is wrong. It’s a huge mistake.

Children are being sexually abused in childhood. They are watching their mums being subjected to domestic abuse. They are being groomed online. They are being blackmailed and bullied with sexual images and sexting.

We have the highest rates of rape and assault of children occurring ON SCHOOL CAMPUS we have ever seen, according to stats from 2023. That’s predominantly boys raping and sexually assaulting girls AT SCHOOL.

Teachers are dealing with this every single day, with little training or support.

No feminist should be supporting or celebrating this new guidance."

www.facebook.com/share/p/DZKZwMQYtQRZASJu/

Yes, completely anachronistic to discuss Shakespeare in these terms

I have a confused and unsettled 13 year old girl who luckil wants to be a fox and not a boy. She is currently being assessed for autism. I absolutely do not need her being encouraged to think her lack of comofort in her skin is due to her actually being a boy. She needs to know she is uncomfortable and we need the neutral space to work through this, led entirely by her and facilitated by me, to find out what she needs put in place to find some comfort.

I don't think school needs to tell anyone that trans adults are right, wrong or anything else. If asked I'd say "they can do whatever makes them happy, it's ok by me". If Jim the adult chooses to change his name to Joan and put on a frock I'll call him Joan and mind my own business. I only object to people suggesting to my daughter that she might want to do something similar so she can feel better.

It's covered.

Surely the place to discuss it is at home with caring parents who can help them navigate the complex landscape of growing, changing bodies, sex and sexuality, changing sense of identity etc?

Only if your mum isn't Susie Green.