Page 5 | Wales primary the sex education experiment

justasking111 · 2022-08-22T13:13:41+00:00

Now Wales has been ahead with some things, kudos to that. But sex education in primaries, masturbation at nine, advice from the WHO . Parents not allowed to know the content of lessons. It's out of hand now IMO. Are the staff of primaries happy with this. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/education/wales-sex-education-plans-court-23776923 https://gov.wales/curriculum-wales-relationships-and-sexuality-education-rse-code I feel we're being bamboozled into this YABU dinosaur thinking YANBU primary is too early

bigfootisreal · 22/08/2022 23:25

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

TheSunnySide · 22/08/2022 23:38

There’s a LOT of scare mongering going on from groups set up to challenge sex education in Wales. There’s one which uses the words ‘child protection’ in their name who stir up so much unnecessary worry among parents and many of their member seem to have lost all sense of perspective. Having said that, I think each school is at the mercy of their SLT and some of the more dodgy gender identity stuff is going to be encouraged depending on the perspective of leadership.

Almondsandraisins · 22/08/2022 23:47

TheSunnySide · 22/08/2022 23:38

There’s a LOT of scare mongering going on from groups set up to challenge sex education in Wales. There’s one which uses the words ‘child protection’ in their name who stir up so much unnecessary worry among parents and many of their member seem to have lost all sense of perspective. Having said that, I think each school is at the mercy of their SLT and some of the more dodgy gender identity stuff is going to be encouraged depending on the perspective of leadership.

Whilst there is some question around whether the curriculum is open ended enough to let some extreme gender identify ideology stuff through (and I have no issue with people being taught not to discriminate those who don't feel the sex they are born with is correct, but there is some more extreme stuff out there that would make me nervous), the OP had a thread awhile ago with some vague (homophobic?) concerns around primary school children being taught that gay people exist so I think fundamentally that might be the root cause here.

Other than a complete lack of faith in any education the welsh government can lay out of course...

pointythings · 23/08/2022 08:25

I'm completely in favour of the safety side being worded in such a way that young people know they are fully not to blame if they are coerced/tricked into giving out their number, but the message not to give out your number (or send photos etc) absolutely needs to be out there.

Tandora · 23/08/2022 08:30

bigfootisreal · 22/08/2022 21:55

Almondsandraisins
A lot of sex education is victim blaming stuff.

I 100% support the proposals, and believe sex education should be taught in primary schools, however I do also agree with this. The sex education I had at secondary school was very much sexist and victim blaming- I think because it was all about “relationships” and teaching girls to avoid preg and the dangers of STIs.
The sex education I had in primary was much better and incredibly helpful as it was focused on biological facts.

pointythings · 23/08/2022 09:05

@Tandora but it is important to teach young people about relationships - sticking to just the biological facts doesn't empower young people to say no to things they do not want to do. It is important to understand the negative influence of porn culture, and the risks of pregnancy and STIs has to be discussed. It just needs to be delivered in such a way that it is effective for everyone.

Tandora · 23/08/2022 09:39

pointythings · 23/08/2022 09:05

@Tandora but it is important to teach young people about relationships - sticking to just the biological facts doesn't empower young people to say no to things they do not want to do. It is important to understand the negative influence of porn culture, and the risks of pregnancy and STIs has to be discussed. It just needs to be delivered in such a way that it is effective for everyone.

But the problem is there are so many values being communicated there that are subjective and problematic. For example a focus on “ risks” of getting pregnant undermines young people’s reproductive choices and contributes to stigma and exclusion of young mums (eg in education). you can teach people about pregnancy and contraception without couching it in terms of avoidance and risk. Young People need to be empowered with the knowledge that they need to make their own choices free from social judgement/ purity culture , which ultimately is the route of victim blaming/ rape culture.

pointythings · 23/08/2022 17:31

We're going to have to agree to disagree here. I'm fully in favour of autonomy, but it would be utterly dishonest to tell young women that getting pregnant at 13 is just fiiiiine. It isn't. If it happens so be it, we deal, we make the best of it and absolutely there should be more support. But it should be avoided as a first priority. That isn't victim blaming, that's common sense.

Mardyface · 23/08/2022 17:40

I think it's an interesting point though. This would all be much easier if women's bodies were not culturally seen as commodities they or other people can use for purposes other than their own pleasure/reproduction. It's great to tell young women their bodies belong to them and their choices should be their own but when all the messaging everywhere else says the exact opposite it feels like a losing battle. The jump from child to woman is one most of us are not prepared for in terms of how everybody else suddenly sees us is it?