Wonder Women demand sex-ed. changes

In the midst of important things in Britain, like what to do in Syria and how to pay for a massive welfare state without any more tax increases, some quite high level ministers have turned on one another over the subject of sex-education in schools.

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Now clearly there isn’t a problem with achieving success in the area of sexuality as the ever growing population attests to. The ideological question is what the schools should be teaching and as is always the case with progressive government the question is never if the schools should be teaching it. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has embraced the Daily Telegraph’s campaign to update the 13 year-old curriculum, including material to reflect the dangers to children of being exposed to pornography over the internet. Said Clegg: “I think it’s absolutely vital that all young people can learn about sex and relationships in an appropriate way to help them make informed personal choices. The world is very different now from even 13 years ago, when sex and relationship education guidance was last updated. Campaigns like The Daily Telegraph’s Better Sex Education are raising awareness about this important issue among both young people and parents. Liberal Democrats will continue to make the case publicly and in Government for an updated sex and relationship education curriculum to be taught in all our schools.”

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Clegg should have checked with his coalition partner, Conservative Party Education Secretary Michael Gove first. His policy is to leave the current curriculum alone, believing that teachers should have the flexibility to tailor classes as necessary. Gove said: “The right thing to do is to trust teachers. As soon as you create a new set of guidance to respond to new and challenging circumstances there is a risk that you crystallise something that new technology or changing social mores will render time-bound. The most important thing to do is for schools to make sure that they are in touch with organisations that can help to provide all the advice that students need in order to be able to grow up healthy and confident young people.” Gove’s de-centralized approach is being challenged by the Telegraph’s new ‘Wonder Women’ daily section. Wonder Women is described by the paper as a new daily online section filled with sassy, irreverent and intelligent content about politics, business, family, life and sex. It also has 20,000 online signatures demanding an update in the sex-education curriculum. The Telegraph is normally found in the Conservative Party camp on issues but appears to have taken a broader sweep on this one. The paper cites all kinds of backers of its project (which may well be really about increasing female circulation) including the increasingly secularized Girl Guides but most alarmingly the National Union of Teachers (NUT), a rather militant lot consisting of 300,000 members not afraid to engage in strikes. Wonder Women’s research revealed amongst other things that seven in 10 pupils think porn should be taught in sex education classes. This is supposed to be advocacy for change. Of the 5 male pupils it’s a willing bet that over 4.9 supported the idea meaning in fact that half the girls don’t like the concept. Telegraph should take a step back on this one. There’s a reason that adults choose the curriculum and kids don’t decide themselves what they should learn. The Prime Minister through all this is clearly not amused. When he saw Tory MP Claire Perry, who is his adviser on the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood, welcoming a campaign for better sex education; she was told that she had embarrassed Number 10, and subsequently she had to submit a career saving letter of apology. The next cabinet re-shuffle will let us know how that was received. Helena Dollimore of Young Labour and Oxford University wrote a nice piece for Labour List making the case for changes. The method of persuasion though reminds me of the arguments for intervention in Syria. In other words there is a lot of ‘these are the problems women face’, but the dots are not joined to show that increasing government regulation will solve anything. Sex-education remains the primary responsibility of the parents. There also needs to be recognition that this is the source of healthy sexuality and many problems society faces in this area must start with the realization that breakdown at home is the root cause. Sexuality cannot be approached from a purely academic and psychological perspective. The role of parents and the core family (or lack of) is at the centre of well-being which cannot be simply fixed in a few classes in school. These issues are being subjugated because of their political incorrectness and an unwillingness of governments to name core problems rather than just treat symptoms.

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