Parents revolt over ‘explicit’ sex education
Lessons approved as part of the Curriculum for Excellence dropped after number of complaints
EXPLICIT sex education lessons for primary pupils have been scrapped on a Hebridean island over fears they are too extreme for younger children.
Furious church leaders and parents on Lewis campaigned against the use of the materials over concerns they would ‘prematurely sexualise young minds’.
Parents even threatened to remove children aged as young as eight from classes if they were subjected to the ‘confusing’ messages about pornography and abortion.
The relationships, sexual health a nd parenthood ( RSHP) lessons were approved for use by the Scottish Government as part of its Curriculum for Excellence.
But councillors voted to replace the materials with a toned-down version at a Western Isles Council meeting.
Councillor Calum Maclean said after the vote: ‘Some of the resources within the revised materials used in the teaching of RSHP are most inappropriate for teaching in our schools and a significant number of parents, carers, faith groups and staff voiced their concerns to us.’
An RHSP learning resource has a section teaching pupils about all aspects of sex, gender and relationships, including orgasms, abortion and transgender issues, which is said to ‘likely’ be for children in P5, P6 and P7, but ‘can be earlier or later for some’.
Pupils are t aught t he answers to questions such as ‘How people have sex’, ‘What is an abortion? and ‘ What is porn?’. In answer to the question of abortion, one resource states: ‘If a woman gets pregnant and doesn’t want to be any more she can get an abortion.’
Church leaders and councill ors said they had been approached by parents and teachers who were ‘ gravely concerned’ about the content of the materials which the council intended to introduce in response to Scottish Gove r nment guidance. The
Church of Scotland Presbytery of Lewis wrote to Western Isles Council to oppose the use of the material.
It also raised fears that pupils who are unable to ‘embrace’ an ideology that goes against their conscience, morality, and/or faith position’ could face bullying.
It said that while the removal of homophobic and transphobic bullying from schools is ‘an aspiration Presbytery fully supports, there is the very real danger that it will be replaced by heterophobic and faithophobic bullying’. The deeply religious island will now adopt alternative lessons used by the Scottish Catholic Education Services, with schools able to make adjustments ‘where appropriate’.
In its letter, Lewis Presbytery said: ‘The content and age and stage appropriateness of much of the rshp.org materials approved by the Scottish Government will confuse and prematurely sexualise young minds.
‘The rshp.org materials are being translated into Gaelic while there are acceptable, alternative RSHP materials presently available to English stream pupils. It is unlikely that they will be available in translation to pupils in Gaelic Medium Education.
‘As a result, Gaelic Medium pupils will have no alternative but the translated rshp.org materials. Pupil withdrawal from such classes will, therefore, be more likely.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘It is for education authorities and schools to decide which resources they use in supporting their teaching, and it is recommended that schools involve parents and pupils in their consideration of resources.’
‘Inappropriate for schools’