Sex and Relationship education for 5-10 year olds.

[webquack]

Hi everyone. I'm looking for mums who are as angry as I am about the current government proposals to introduce compulsory sex and relationship education (SRE)for 5-10 year olds. I am also unashamedly asking for more signatures on the No. 10 website which is asking Gordon Brown to conduct a 12 week public consultation on these proposals so that parents and others can have their say. Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe, and this inspite of decades of sex education in secondary schools. SRE hasn't worked. So what does the government do? They introduce the more SRE! Do you want your five-year-old to be naming body parts, being informed about intimacy and what is and isn't appropriate touching? Do you want your child sexualised at an early age and to lose their innocence any earlier than necessary? If not please join the growing chorus of concerned parents by going to: petitions.number10.gov.uk/Parentchoice

All I will say is in Hollandthey have huge amounts of Sex ed from a very young age and they do not have high rates of teenage pregnancy.

I would like to applaud the government for finally doing something about this.

Lets sort out stuffy Britain, and allow our children to have information and facts about life

Highest teenage pregnancy in western Europe that would be, AMum. If I remember correctly, that means that teenage pregnancy rates have come down all over Europe, but somewhat slower in this country.

I really AM a New Labour supporter. In fact only yesterday I finished John Prescott's autobiography. I had a lovely week, snuggled in bed with John Prescott and a bottle of red wine. (P.S. don't tell any children!)

How about an old fashioned solution. This will get you going. Take back your privilege and authority as parents and stop letting the state raise your child. I do not need a school to teach my sons about sex.It's a parent's job to do that. If you find it difficult then get over it.

You could equally argue that we have high rate in spite of the SRE, and that therefore we need more of it, and starting earlier.

Or you could argue that there are other reasons for teenage pregnancy which are unrelated - many young women don't feel able to say no, or to insist on a condom, we also have a culture wrt alcohol which does not do young women any favours - young drunken women are even less likely to say no than young sober women.

And the safe message they have promoted (safety in all sorts of ways not condoms or contraception) have increased her enjoyment of her childhood.

I can honestly say she now loves being a ten year old - and one of the reasons for that is that they have handled it so well.

Oops apologies for double post

Can you just explain to me WHY New Labour is obsessed about money money money (must be funny / in a rich man's world!) and yet STILL wants to increase teenage pregnancy rates? Cos those pesky teenagers are 'spensive on the state you know! Please explain how this works.

I will happily teach my children about sex, but many parents won't. That is why this is important

webquack on Thu 08-Jan-09 19:54:07
"How about an old fashioned solution."

First I would like to see some evidence that teenage pregnancy rates actually were lower in Britain before the introduction of SRE.

And then I would like to know why the countries with a long history of SRE generally have lower teenage pregnancy rates.

Webquack, if you're not a troll you are an ignorant arsehole who is likely to damage your children. You are suffering from the most dangerous sexual dysfunction going - an obsession with controlling other people's sexual feelings and preventing them from having sex by any means at your disposal.

Hi RegineFelange - Holland looks like a success story because of SRE but this is a false assumption. Italy has similarly low teenage pregnancy rates and they do not provide early SRE. It is more to do with the solidity of family life and morals. SRE is immaterial to preventing teenage pregnancies.

Why should the state teaching them about sex be any different from them teaching about healthy eating, or sharing, or taking turns, or any of the other important information and skills they get from school? If you want the state to stop educating you child, take them out and hom educate them. Then you can make sure you don't mention the clitoris or contraception until they are 18, and keep them locked in the house with the TV and radio off and no books until then.

Are you the type of parent to tell their 12 year old that their clitoris/vulva/vagina is their 'floofy flower' or something

Well, you can't have it both ways, can you? Either SRE is encouraging sex, or it isn't. If you think it somehow doesn't in Holland, but does in Italy, how would that logic work then?

It depends a lot on the content of the curriculum and how it is put. I want my son to learn first about relationships and then sex.

I want my son to learn the difference between love and lust. I really hope he does not have casual sex or one night stands. I want him to give real careful thought before having sex with someone. I want him to appreciate that condoms are not 100% and there is no such thing as safe sex, just safer sex.

I think a big reason for failure SRE in the UK is too much emphasis on sex and not enough on building good and long term loving relationships. By relationships, I mean friends, parents, brothers, sister, grandparents as well as sexual relationships.

Discussing how to treat people in life and make good relationships is worthwhile at any age. Provided that the presentation of material is done at an age appropiate rate I do not have a problem with this being done in reception.

Of course relationship education is the responsiblity of the parents, but it can be difficult for the best of parents. Many parents find it difficult to talk to their children and children find hard to approach their parents. My son's school assists with him learning numeracy and literacy, so why not personal education?

Hi Morning Paper - the government doesn't want to increase teenage pregnancy rates does it? However, it is desperate - desperate moves by a desperate government. They need to BE SEEN to be doing something, to keep all of you happy. Further they cannot think of any alternative because, after all, society says ANYTHING GOES....oh, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone of course......

webquack on Thu 08-Jan-09 19:56:53
"Hi RegineFelange - Holland looks like a success story because of SRE but this is a false assumption. Italy has similarly low teenage pregnancy rates and they do not provide early SRE. It is more to do with the solidity of family life and morals."

In Sweden far more children are born out of wedlock than in the UK, yet teenage pregnancy rates are low.

My experience of Sweden in the '70s and '80s (my teen years) was that young people did have sex, but practised contraception. The only teenager we ever knew of who actually got pregnant was the local Baptist pastor's daughter, who went on a language course to the US. I am sure her family were far more moral than mine, but it is just possible that they had forgotten to tell her about certain details- and that she hadn't been listening during safe sex lessons.

Have you actually got any statistics that show that teenage pregnancy rates are higher now that in the '80s, say?

They are most certainly not taught anything goes in schools

You are extraordinarily uninformed. I suggest you reread some of the posts on here.

Why does it matter a child being born out of wedlock?

What matters is that a child is born into a family that can cope financialy and emotionally with looking after a child. That family can come in all different kinds of structure.

Hello AMum in scotland - well, my point was that SRE is irrelevant to lowering teenage pregnancy rates. If it were the defining ingredient you would expect a different outcome in Italy than in Holland - but the outcome is the same - so SRE is not what prevents teenage pregnancy - it is the existence of the family that counts and teaching children right from wrong. Very unpopular I know.

Cory, I haven't got stats to hand here on my desk but I have read about it and threre has been a significant increase in teenage preg in the UK over the last few decades. If it were not teh case teh gov. would not be stepping up its SRE agenda.

It is part of a package of measures to lower teenage pregnancy rates, not the only thing! And most parents are PLEASED that their children are learning about sex and relationships as part of their schooling. They don't think it's right to mystify it and make it taboo. And the whole point of sex and relationship education is not SOLELY to prevent teenage pregnancy: it is also about, well, teaching children about sex and relationships. Important things that everybody needs to know about.

webquack, I have read a couple of your posts. You are obv bonkers in the nut. You have a real knack for alienating people.