Children aged 4 to be given sex education
Lessons about perils of the internet and grooming will be compulsory in biggest reform for almost 20 years
CHILDREN as young as four will be given sex and relationship education to warn them about the dangers of the internet.
Teenagers will be taught about how to protect themselves from “sexting” and pornography, under plans set to be announced by ministers for the biggest overhaul to sex education in 17 years.
The Government will table an amendment to the Children and Social Work Bill as early as today that will make “age appropriate” sex and relationship education (SRE) part of the national curriculum, The Daily Telegraph understands.
It will be compulsory to teach SRE in primary and secondary schools, although parents would be able to opt their children out of classes. Four-yearolds are likely to be taught about online safety, and about telling a trusted adult if they are asked to keep a secret with which they are uncomfortable.
The Church of England will announce today that it supports the introduction of statutory sex education.
Theresa May gave her backing to the system to recognise the threats to children from social media and sexual images on the internet.
Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that teaching in classes had not kept pace with risks that have developed with the internet, a Downing Street spokesman said: “There is a threat online and that threat we would all recognise has grown. That does mean that now is the right time to look at how we can ensure children have the access they need to the teaching in those subjects.”
A Westminster source said that government plans included provisions to ensure that “all education will need to be appropriate to age and religious background of pupils”.
It comes after a group of MPs, including five former ministers, backed a change to the law that would make SRE compulsory in the National Curriculum. The change would involve teenagers being taught, in compulsory classes, what consent means in sexual relationships and how to protect themselves from online exploitation.
It follows a Telegraph campaign for better sex and relationship education in schools, with the teaching materials that reflect the changes in technology that have affected young people.
Currently, only council-controlled secondary schools are required to teach children about sex in biology classes. There is no such requirement on academies or free schools, which make up the majority of secondary schools in England. Ministers have faced mounting pressure from across the political spectrum to bring about the change, following concerns that children are being left ill-equipped to cope with the new realities of online porn, cyber bullying and sexting.
Maria Miller MP, chair of the women and equalities select committee, who has led the campaign for sex education to be modernised, said it was “absolutely vital” to introduce sex education into primary schools.
She told The Daily Telegraph: “The average age of a child to have its first mobile phone is nine and we have to make sure that children understand the importance of relationships when
dealing with the online world. Many children will be having smartphones and it is entirely right that children of that age should get age appropriate relationship education.”
A survey this week by Plan International UK, the children’s charity, found the vast majority of parents were in favour of educating children about sexual consent, pornography and “sexting”.
Seven out of 10 parents also backed the inclusion of education about different sexualities.
However, Andrea Williams, chief executive at Christian Concern, said that teaching SRE to four-year-olds would be “devastating” and would “rob them of their innocence”.
“Very often sex education introduces children to concepts far too soon,” she added.
Around 90,000 children are likely to miss out on their chosen secondary school today as more than half a million families in England learn where their child will be going in September. The number of children who fail to get their preferred school on “national offer day” will rise by more than 3 per cent this year, according to The Good Schools Guide.