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

no more sex tonight?

I've not finished the bloody Roundup yet!

oh you dont mean ME personally

I knew it. This from the DirectGov website:

"Teen pregnancy rates lowest for over 20 yearsPublished: Thursday, 28 February 2008 Figures published today show the biggest drop for five years in teenage conception rates, confirmation that the Government's Teenage Pregnancy Strategy is working.
The Office of National Statistics figures show teenage pregnancy rates continuing to fall with a reduction in both the under 18 and the under 16 rates during 2006:

A 13.3 per cent overall reduction in the under 18 conception rate in England since the 1998 baseline and a two per cent reduction from the 2005 rate
a 13.0 per cent overall reduction in the under 16 conception rate in England since 1998 and a one per cent reduction from the 2005 rate
between 1998 and 2006, 89 per cent of local authorities have seen an overall reduction in their under 18 conception rate (compared with 83% in 2005)
the decline in the under 18 conception rate in England contrasts sharply with increases in the conception rate for all other age groups, highlighting the impact of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy."

So following the introduction of compulsory sex education adult conception rates have gone up and teen conception rates have gone down. This is supposed to prove that sex education doesn't work?

Hello Cory. if you consult a government website you will naturally be given ample justification for 'their' strategies. PLease read more widely, not just gov. websites, and then come to your conclusions.By way of example - the government parades all the A grades at GCSE and A levels. Twenty years ago there were not as many A grades because the standards were higher. I have marked exam papers so can speak with certainty about this. They now make it hard to fail an Exam! The universal dumbing down in educational institutions makes it LOOK like pupils are doing better - in fact they are probably worse educated now than in the 1980s. (look at the stats for children leaving primary school who are barely literate)The same principle applies to teenage pregnancy - always remember the gov. wants to make itself LOOK GOOD so of course they will publish the stats that suit their policies. Of course conception rates in 18+ mothers are higher than in teens because (thankfully) it is still more the norm for adults to have sex than it is for children.
The point I want to stress ultimately is SEX EDUCATION IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARENT(S). A MOTHER HAS A NATURAL INSTINCT CONCERNING WHAT IS AND IS NOT OK FOR HER CHILD. LET PARENTS DECIDED WHAT AND WHEN TO TEACH THEIR KIDS. If you want to teach your daughter (if you have one) what a clitoris is at the age of 5 then do so. Personally I will be teaching my boys about gravity, about Mozart, about the continents and different cultures, how to make, spend and save money, taking them on travels and teaching them how to deal handle relationships. The sex bit will be dealt with as and when appropriate - and we as parents will teach them, not some teacher who stands blushing and stammering in the classroom under government orders.

Hopefully no teacher 'blushes and stammers' when teaching sex ed. on account of sex being a normal part of life that perpetuates the species.

Yes i think that's a great idea, and how are you going to force those who tell their DCs nothing to educate them?

Of course no parent would stand/sit their blushing and stammering under your orders.

The gov. wants to try to introduce a 'blanket' solution - tar everyone with teh same brush, for the sake of those children who live in dysfunctional homes. Just how many of your parent friends do you suspect of sexually abusing their children? Gov. wants to take teh easiest cheapest route - so instead of differentiating between children who are at risk and those who aren't, they place the onus on a whole generation of children to do their job for them. Too much interference from New Labour for me!

If you made sense i'd reply but as you don't i'm done.

I think you are 'done' because you have no more arguments to punt.

it is nothing to do with living in dysfunctional homes. My posts about my foster daughter are to point out how the matter of factedness and sensitive way sex-ed is handled has helped her.

This equally applies to all children.

You have no idea how it's taught - this is utterly clear from your imflammatory, prejudiced posts.

wish someone had taught me where my clitoris was

oh webquack, just wait till your children come back from primary school asking about gays and lesbians because they will, sex education or nowt

I still want to know why you mums are so opposed to doing the job yourselves. What sort of relationships do you have with your children that render you unwilling or unable to teach them SRE yourselves?

I think it is a parent's right and privilege to introduce their own children to sex and relationships - and to judge when it is the best time to do so. You know your child better than anyone else and have a natural mother's instinct as to what is and isn't appropriate.

When my boys ask me and my hub aboutgays and alll the rest it will be our joy and privilege to explain it to them in the way that I want them to understand it - not how this government wants them to understand it.

the gov. is carrying out social control and you are willingly submitting to it. It's time for parents to start to think critically about what is going on in schools and society and not to be a bunch of mindless sheep saying yay and amen to every last thing this gov plans for your child.

This is from Brook Advisory, sex/relationship education from very young age is not mentioned as a factor and in my opinion is something that can help...

Reasons for high rates in the UK

The Social Exclusion Unit report Teenage Pregnancy identified three major factors for the UK's failure to reduce its teenage conception rates alongside those of other European countries.

Low Expectations. Teenage pregnancy is more common among young people who have been disadvantaged and have poor expectations of education or the job market. The UK has more young people who see no prospect of a job and foresee a future on benefits. As the report said 'put simply, they see no reason not to get pregnant.'

Ignorance. Young people in the UK lack accurate knowledge about contraception and sexually transmitted infections, they are uncertain of what to expect from a relationship and have an unrealistic picture of parenthood. Contraceptive use is low compared to countries like Denmark and the Netherlands and young people tend to have a rosy view of what being a parent is about.

Mixed messages. Young people are surrounded by sexual images and messages which imply that sexual activity is the norm. Yet some parents and many public institutions are at best embarrassed about dealing with young people's sexuality or try to ignore it completely. This leads to the situation, described by one teenager quoted by the Teenage Pregnancy Report, where it seems as if sex is compulsory but contraception is illegal.

I am not 'unwilling or unable to teach' my dd about anything - it is no different to me telling her about her clitoris as it is about Henry Tudor.

The point is for parents to continually educate and care for their children as a complement to what they receive in schools.

And I object to you calling people 'mindless sheep' and unable to critically evaluate what goes on in schools- my dh particularly disagrees with you on account of being a teacher.

webquack on Fri 09-Jan-09 16:15:39
"I still want to know why you mums are so opposed to doing the job yourselves."

Does this mean we should be equally up in arms if the schools want to teach our children about history or political geography? To me, teaching the facts of sex is no more worrying than teaching them about the Second World War or the countries of Middle Europe. In a sense, I have abdicated some of the responsibility for all of this to the teachers. Doesn't mean we can't discuss these things at home as well.

The government is not telling the schools to teach children to have early sex, schools are not teaching children to have early sex.
Any more than history teachers are teaching them to throw bombs or keep slaves. They are teaching them about human reproduction. About wars. About political division.

I could equally well argue that it was my responsibility as a mother to decide when my children were ready to learn about the Norman invasion or equations. Then home educating would be the obvious choice. If I choose to send my children to school, then I accept that other people are in charge of the curriculum.

I just can't manage to get that emotional about my children knowing a few biological facts relating to the human body when they know so many relating to animals bodies, plants, amoebas and what have you. It doesn't have the negative scary connotation for me that it clearly does for you.

God, you're really prejudiced - a 'natural mother's instinct' - I don't have that as I'm a foster parent.

and guess what neither does dh on account of being a man. He is though perfectly able (and does) teach appropriate PSHE and models a healthy paternal relationship with dd.

PMSL at this thread.

Webquack you are a loon.

I cannot for the life of me see how teaching your children the correct names for the parts of the body is in any way shape or form taking away their innocence .

I won't be signing the petition, I'm afraid.

I don't know what this "natural mother's instinct" is that should allow us to let others teach our children about the world around them but not let them to teach them about the human body.

But whatever it is it is clearly not present in Scandinavian mothers. Unnatural creatures that they are.

Yes, the clitoris/vulva/vagina is not solely to do with sex and is no more embarassing than your arm - obviously you should tell your children about biology

health, sex and relationship education at school compliments a parents role. The more knowledge our children have, the better

Yes, and let's remember that the OP wants them to have the 'right' knowledge part of which is 'being homosexual is a choice and is a result of bad parenting'.

Mental health professionals do not agree and there have been many studies that do not correspond with that point of view.

What the OP actually wants to do is bring up her children and have them educated by her point of view whether that is backed up by scientific research or not.

Unfortunately she is entitled to.