AIBU to object to these sex education sessions?

[balletgirlmum]

Had a letter from school informing me that the as part of phase children will be getting a some relationships & sex education sessions. Standard type of letter I've had them before.

Except this time the sessions will be delivered by the area Schools Christian worker. Further googling informs me he/she is employed by Scripture Union.

At the very least I feel I should ask the content & viewpoint that will be presented.

AIBU to object to this?

Very odd. I've looked at Scripture Union's website and nowhere does it say they provide sex education. They do plenty of outreach work in schools, but in the areas you'd expect - RS.

I'd definitely talk to the school about this - sex ed should be unbiased and presented without an agenda. It should be information-based, not faith-based (though obviously there should be talk of love and self-respect, not feeling you 'have to' have sex, being able to say no, and self-esteem etc.)

There is nothing to stop it being factual, neutral and none judgemental regardless of who is delivering it. You really don't know what the viewpoints are of anyone delivering sex education nor should you. They might be into BDSM in the privacy of their own homes, doesn't mean they have to present it as wonderful for everyone.
You may not know if the teachers are gay/straight/hate sex etc

My personal views do not affect how I deliver care to my patients, I may think they are wrong to smoke, drink to excess but I still provide treatment based on their needs not on their lifestyle choices.

You really don't know what the viewpoints are of anyone delivering sex education nor should you. They might be into BDSM in the privacy of their own homes, doesn't mean they have to present it as wonderful for everyone.

You do know their viewpoint if they are presenting it as a member of an organisation that promotes a particular viewpoint.

I'd certainly know that somebody liked BDSM if they were presenting a talk on sex education by the local BDSM society, and call me prejudiced, but I'd also be contacting the school and asking for a more detailed explanation of what would be included in the lesson.

My bil and sister are involved with SU, especially the camps i'll give her a ring later and see what she knows.

I want my DC to know and understand about reality and have facts taught that have evidence to back them up. This requires scientific-based, critically analysed, robust evidence. The type that the scientific community readily encourage to be criticised and questioned in order to ensure that the evidence stands on firm foundations.

It's fine to teach Christian values as an individual's beliefs and morals, but when those beliefs and morals infringe on another person's physical and mental health and wellbeing, that's when I draw the line. No-one should be made to feel wrong or inferior because of something that is totally natural and beyond their control.

Yes but Christianity is a little bit wider than that, you can be Christian and not homophobic (obviously not on MN) and you can be Christian and not think sex is dirty.

Obviously you want to know the content as I would regardless of who is delivering it. But the OP should get some information before going in all guns blazing and assuming it will be an issue. That would be judgemental.

Still reading & appreciate everyone's viewponts but can't post til tonight as am at work.

A pp found a link (better Googller than me) to what looks like the specific programme.

This a is a worrying trend in schools in general. Under pressure with budgets, teachers facing the prospect of developing specialist materials and the easy option is to invite a 'specialist' in to give the PSHE talks.

Problem is that groups with an agenda have spotted this as an opportunity to influence impressionable children in an arena where they are 'forced' to attend.

It happened in my children's private school with charity groups coming in and also a lot of 'climate change campaign' and 'animal charity types' having access facilitated by certain teachers that had a close connection to the groups pushing a certain skewed message.

I objected very strongly.

Another 'organisation' has just got access to profile all the children and put them on a careers database which will track them through university and 'help' them choose a career and access employers - no thanks.

Schools are very naive as to the objectives of these groups.

Should be neutral, factual and none judgemental.

All education should be like this, not just sex education. If you are really worried you can ask to see the content of the lessons. But, remember that you are yourself being judgemental in expecting that a Christian organisation is unable to deliver lessons in an appropriate manner.

I'm not totally convinced about some of the stuff I have to teach on global warming. But I still do it, and to the same high standard that I teach everything else.

I also have to teach that all political parties are equally valid - even though I have very strong political opinions. Good professionals are able to put personal feelings to one side in order to ensure that the children they teach receive a high quality education.

I would certainly want to know as much as possible about the "lesson" on offer.

Sex education must be factual & relevant to all (i.e. not pretending that sex only occurs between a married man and his wife). I would be very concerned about the possibility of a 'guilt' & 'dirty' vibe, like was associated with sex ed back when I was at school in the late 1980's. Surely schools can do better than that nowadays.

YANBU

Personally I would rather my child gets the message that abstinence/celibacy is positive and saving themselves for marriage than an open invitation to mischief before they are ready.

That said, I think this type of education should not be done in schools but in the home. I want my child to hear and understand the family values around sex - not someone else's.

But, remember that you are yourself being judgemental in expecting that a Christian organisation is unable to deliver lessons in an appropriate manner.

No, it is a perfectly valid reaction to a lesson being taught by a group that is clearly not unbiased.

The aim of the Scripture Union is 'bringing the bible to life for children and young people'. You can say many things about the bible, good and bad, but it really is very confused on the nature of sexuality.

It isn't at all unreasonable to ask what will be included in the lessons.

YWNBU for contacting the school and asking for specifics on the content of these lessons - I'd be worried too. YWBU if you were going to object outright as the lessons might be perfectly fine.

lexlees the reason schools must deliver sex education is that far too many parents utterly fail to deliver this information in the home in a way that will equip the child for life in the real world. Parents try to 'maintain their child's innocence' and in doing so leave them ignorant and vulnerable because they don't know how to deal with everything they are exposed to - sexualised advertising, playground behaviour, inappropriate touching and so on. My DD1 was asked for a blowjob at school when she was 11. Because I had talked to her openly about sex, she knew exactly what this was, how inappropriate it was and what she should do - report it at once. She got the support she needed from the school and from me because she had the knowledge to recognise that this was inappropriate. It was still a shock to her, but it could have been so much worse. Knowledge is power.

You need to find out the content before you object surely ? Just because its a christian organisation doesnt mean they will be telling them they willgo tohell for having sex ,do you withdraw them from R E? christianity seems a religion that we can be intolerant about on here baffles me

Of course YABU to object about something when you have no detail. YANBU to ask for more detail and then object if you are unhappy with the information provided.

However, just to put this into perspective. If this charity receives any public funding then it will have to meet government guidelines on the provision of sex education. And, it's probably worth noting that working for a Christian organisation doesn't necessarily mean the staff member is Christian.

My friend worked with an organisation linked to the RC Church. The majority of their outreach workers weren't RC. In fact over a third were atheists. They were the best people to fill the role. Hence if someone booked a visit to discuss sustainable agriculture for example, the relevant staff member would lead the session. And in that example, it was an atheist who had a Masters in agriculture/sustainable development.

What does the Bible tell us about sex? Hmm. A camel driver has to have sex with his wife once a year, and a rabbi should shag his (own) wife once a week. A woman's breasts should be a playground for her husband. The 'young men from the east' are 'as handsome as young gods'. If male strangers are staying at your house and a mob wants to rape them, throw out your daughters instead because that is less of an abomination. Oh, and if there's no other man around, get pregnant by your dad.

I'm a believer by the way, and the above are just from memory because looking it up would be too much like hard work.

Is this the only sex ed your child will be getting?

I used to work for a christian charity and we did sessions on schools on various topics including sex and relationships. We certainly didn't talk about sex being 'dirty' or encourage homophobic views. Equally we didn't talk about contraception because they got taught that in other lessons. We mainly talked about consent and the emotional aspects of sex.

We didn't present an unbiased view, but we were just one lesson a year and there was lots of other opinions and information available. I'd be worried if my child was only going hear one persons opinion on sex, regardless of who it was.

Everyone's biased.

I need to look up Matthew 25: 34-40

yanbu i would not be happy at all!

YANBU - I would want to know the agenda before giving consent for the child to attend any sex education lessons. As Christians, their viewpoint is very likely to be based around abstention, which is not helpful for young people. They need to know the unbiased facts and there needs to be open dialogue.

"A woman's breasts should be a playground for her husband."

Where in the Bible does it say this?

Will they be watching a video? At my DDs school, they learn about puberty and Sex Ed in yrs 5&6. They watch a video. The parents are invited one day after school to watch the video with the teacher. The teacher than explains what they will talk about and how they will answer questions from the children. The parents can than make the decision of whether or not their child watches and joins in the session.
Your school should invite the parents in to discuss with them exactly what the children are going to shown/talked to about.

I would withdraw my child unless full and detailed descriptions of the lessons were provided. I'm all for telling children that sex is safer in a relationship with someone you know and trust (I'll deal with the thrill of lust, alcohol and one night stands when they're 13ish), and that waiting until they are ready is better than being pressurised. But I go against the church's no sex before marriage stance as well as their bigoted views on same sex relationships.

YANBU. When I was at secondary school, we had a Christian group come in to give a sex ed talk. It was mostly on how abortion was evil, complete with projected images of 20+ week aborted foetuses.