FGM on year 5 school curriculum

[MermaidMummy]

I'm really not sure if I'm being unreasonable, so I'm interested in everyone's thoughts.
My 9-year-old's class has just started learning about puberty. We have been told that the next lesson will cover terminology such as erection, sperm and female genital mutilation.
I just don't get why they need to learn about FGM at 9 years old. Some of these kids are very "young" for their age, and mine is very sensitive (won't watch the news in case an "adult topic" crops up).
What is the rationale for teaching this in year 5? There is nobody in the class from a cultural background likely to carry out FGM, but even if there was, would a 9 year-old know that it might happen to them and inform a teacher (if that is the rationale for teaching it)? From what I have read they aren't told anything about it in advance. If it has already happened to them, what is the benefit of bringing it up in class? Couldn't it be damaging and stigmatising?

“ It comes from specific cultural backgrounds, why pretend all children are equally at risk when they are obviously not?”
Nobody is. On here or anywhere else. Including in the guidance for schools.

I know how horrendous it must sound to teach our children these things, but they need to know about it in case it happens to them

Because its not going to happen to them.

This issue isn’t one that all children need to learn about and be warned against. It comes from specific cultural backgrounds, why pretend all children are equally at risk when they are obviously not?

I find the idea that children should only be taught about things that affect them quite bizarre. Should we separate children into "cultural" groups and only give some of them lessons on things like arranged marriages and FGM? I think that others them and also prevents other children from having an understanding of different life experiences etc.

I know how horrendous it must sound to teach our children these things, but they need to know about it in case it happens to them

But it won’t happen to everyone, or even most girls!

And in the case of the three year old, who’s mother is the only person so far found guilty in court of law, what use will education be to her?

Jelly can you tell me which of those countries/areas have substantial white populations where this practice might be common?

Just because it doesn't happen to white kids doesn't mean white kids shouldn't know about it. I assume not all primary schools are 100% white and even if they were, so what? I think white kids should also learn bout Malala who got shot in the head standing up for female education against the Taliban etc, even though it "doesn't affect them" - it's so valuable learning these things, to appreciate what we have in this country etc.

What grasspigeons and longwayoff have said. For the girls this may happen to its almost guaranteed school will be the only place to tell them this abuse is wrong. Yes, they are unlikely to be able to stand up to the adult at home responsible for doing this but surely if this leads to only a small number of children talking to an adult at school who can then step in and help, this has to be a good thing?

I cannot get my head round the mentality some posters have of "well it's not something that will ever affect my child therefore it's irrelevant ". Thank god it isn't up to you.

Isabella hopefully that one case will be the start of many.

*But it won’t happen to everyone, or even most girls!

Neither will rape, but we still teach kids about it.

@MermaidMummy at my children's school from year 5 the girls get changed in one classroom, boys in another. When they did swimming lessons in year 4 boys got the cubicles on one side of the pool, girls the opposite side - to stop them looking over/under the cubicles!!

Noone thinks it isnt relevant to humanity as a whole. But what do you do about fgm on a day to day basis? How do you go about helping to eradicate it? I'll tell you - you do fuck all, unless you happen to be a social worker working with families who are likely to do this.

Thank god it isn't up to you

Actually, it is.

Do you think they are emotionally mature enough to deal with the idea of sexual abuse?

Nope.

So how do you teach your children what's wrong for another child or adult to do to them, when to tell someone, if they cannot know anything about sexual abuse? Even just saying that nobody should touch your private areas because it's wrong is dealing with the concept of sexual abuse, and we teach kids that from before they start primary school.

porosha upthread Jelly said that white girls were at risk and to go and educate myself. I'm awaiting her elucidation on this point.

And I don't agree with your analogy. There is always a chance that any girl or woman might get raped (or boy or man, for that matter) but there's not a cat in hell's chance that FGM would happen to DD, or many many other girls - probably, in this country, the majority.

“ FGM is prevalent in 30 countries. These are concentrated in countries around the Atlantic coast to the Horn of Africa, in areas of the Middle East, and in some countries in Asia.”
From the statutory guidance, just in case anyone still thinks we’re pretending it can happen to anyone.

Noone thinks it isnt relevant to humanity as a whole. But what do you do about fgm on a day to day basis? How do you go about helping to eradicate it? I'll tell you - you do fuck all

So you shouldn't learn about it unless you can directly do something to change it?

“How do you go about helping to eradicate it?”

Well, one way is to educate girls......

And I don't agree with your analogy. There is always a chance that any girl or woman might get raped (or boy or man, for that matter) but there's not a cat in hell's chance that FGM would happen to DD, or many many other girls - probably, in this country, the majority.

Fine, I just don't think "it's unlikely to happen in this country" is a valid concern as to why they shouldn't know about it.

Who cares what happens in other countries and to girls from different cultures and backgrounds, we just need to focus on learning about stuff that happens in Britain, right? Sounds like a bubble to me.

Well, one way is to educate girls......

I prefer to prosecute the evil scumbags perpetrators.

Porosha
The argument is not that kids shouldn't learn about it. It's the age they learn about it that I am concerned about. Do kids need to know about beheadings at age 9? Do they need to know about waterboarding or other forms of torture? Do they need to know about people the almost daily stabbings in London? At 9 years old?

Yeah well. People capable of sophisticated thinking know that it’s not one or the other. And you are more likely to get prosecutions if you educate girls.

Prosecute and educate.

The downside of prosecution is its after the fact. It's too late.
Education helps people to realise what once used to be the norm in some cultures, isn't anymore.

Do they learn about gang culture, knife crime, drug abuse etc?

so how is this going to be taught so that girls for whom this is never ever going to be an issue don't start worrying about it? For about the third time - does this teaching make it clear that only certain communities do this and which those communities are? I'm guessing not, because then that stigmatises those communities (though frankly they deserve it for letting this continue) - but then the education becomes a bit pointless if no-one knows whose doing this. Hence is perhaps not being a great thing to teach to all children in year 5.

The argument is not that kids shouldn't learn about it. It's the age they learn about it that I am concerned about. Do kids need to know about beheadings at age 9? Do they need to know about waterboarding or other forms of torture? Do they need to know about people the almost daily stabbings in London? At 9 years old?

Don't you have the news on around your kids? Mine is 3 and we watch the news with her around all the time, as she gets older if she asked about what was on the news and it was a terrorist attack or something - I would tell her about it, not in extreme depth (and I'm guessing the FGM content in Year 5 is not going to be in graphic depth either).