Sex-ed: pouring petrol on the fire

An article in today's Telegraph Schools get help for 'too sexual' pupils tells how Birmingham Council's "Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour Team" is sending in "teams of experts" to schools to tackle the problem of little children engaging in sexually explicit behaviour. Stephane Breton, a social worker is quoted as saying:
They are seven and eight and they are flirtatious. We go with them and address the issue to make sure they know what they are talking about.
So that's all right then.

Yesterday, the same paper reported on how £150m plan has failed to cut teenage pregnancies. The £150 million has been spent on the notorious Teenage Pregnancy Unit. The headline figures from the TPU show a small decline in teenage pregnancy "rates" - but there is actually an increase in the number of teenage pregnancies. Critics of the figures have pointed out that the rates can fall where there is an increase in population, especially in the population of Muslims "where teenage pregnancy is rare" - i.e. where there is sound moral education for teenagers.

To get some idea of why children are becoming sexualised at an early age and why £150 million has done nothing useful to reduce teenage pregnancy rates, it is worth having a look at another article from the Telegraph about a book for PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) produced by Coordination Group Publications. Alternatively, have a look at the unit descriptors for the Channel 4 DVD All about us: Living and Growing - a programme that is used in at least one Catholic school to my knowledge:
Unit 1: For Ages 5-7
* Differences
* How Did I Get Here? (Contains animation of the sexual organs)
* Growing Up

Unit 2: For Ages 7-9
* Changes
* How Babies Are Made (Contains animation of sexual intercourse)
* Growing Up (Contains footage of a live birth)

Unit 3: For Ages 9-11
* Girl Talk
* Boy Talk (Contains information on erections, wet dreams and masturbation. There is an animated sequence showing ejaculation)
If some old bloke on a park bench showed children how to masturbate, he would be lucky if the police got to him before their parents did. Nevertheless, campaigners against this kind of sex-education are routinely dismissed as cranks and extremists. They may begin to find some allies outside the Catholic sector as parents become aware of the actual content of these materials. In 2003, parents of children at a non-Catholic school in Dagenham protested vigorously and got the programme banned, saying it was "virtually pornographic". In Scotland, North Lanarkshire Council, East Renfrewshire Council and the Western Isles Council have all banned the programme as unsuitable for use in schools.

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