Legislative Scrutiny: Children, Schools and Families Bill; other Bills - Human Rights Joint Committee Contents


Memorandum submitted by Brook

1.  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  1.1  Brook believes that all children and young people have the right to sex and relationships education which equips them with the information and skills they need to form healthy and positive sexual relationships. Their right to this education is enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

  1.2  Brook is supportive of the Children, Schools and Families Bill. Good quality sex and relationships education guaranteed through a statutory curriculum is long overdue and will make a huge difference to children and young people. This is something that Brook has long campaigned for.

  1.3  The reduction of the age at which parents can opt out their children from education about sex and relationships to 15 guarantees that all young people will receive at least one year of sex and relationships education before they reach 16.

2.  INTRODUCTION

  2.1  Brook is the UK's leading provider of sexual health services and advice for young people under 25. The charity has 45 years of experience working with young people and currently has a network of services in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Jersey.

  2.2  Through education, clinical services and campaigning Brook helps children and young people to make informed, active choices about their personal and sexual relationships so they can enjoy their sexuality without harm.

3.  THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

  3.1  Every day at Brook we see young people whose education about relationships and sex has not been good enough. For too long young people have been saying that the sex education they receive is too little, too late and too biological because schools are only required to teach what is in the science curriculum.

  3.2  Young people report too little discussion of social and emotional issues, including real life dilemmas, and that what little information they are given about sexually transmitted infections is not relevant to their lives. A survey of almost 22,000 young people[51] found that 40% of respondents thought their SRE was either poor or very poor and a further 33% thought it was average. 43% said they had not been taught about personal relationships at school.

  3.3  It is fantastic progress that Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education,[52] the subject within which sex and relationships education is delivered, will become a statutory part of the national curriculum.

  3.4  Making PSHE Education statutory will provide a clear framework and ensure that it will be inclusive of every child and young person combining legal/civil rights, health, and cultural and religious perspectives. It will mean that all children and young people will receive the education and information they are entitled to.

4.  THE RIGHTS OF PARENTS

  4.1  Brook does not believe that making sex and relationships education a statutory part of the national curriculum is incompatible with the right of parents to respect for their religious and philosophical convictions in the education of their children.

  4.2  In fact, the Children, Schools and Families Bill sets out principles for PSHE Education. In clause 11, point 6, the second principle of which is that: "PSHE should be taught in a way that—

    (a) is appropriate to the ages of the pupils concerned and to their religious and cultural backgrounds, and also

    (b) reflects a reasonable range of religious, cultural and other perspectives."

  4.3  Children, young people, parents, carers and teachers all support PSHE Education. The vast majority of parents are in favour of sex education in schools as this supports what many of them are already doing at home. A 2009 survey for the DCSF showed that 81% of parents agreed that every child should attend sex and relationships (SRE) lessons if they were part of the national curriculum.[53]

  4.4  Less than 1% of parents and carers withdraw their children from SRE.[54] However the proposal to limit the right of withdrawal to under 15 is welcome because it will guarantee that every young person will receive at least one year of education about sex and relationships before they reach 16, the legal age of consent and the age at which the majority of young people first have sexual intercourse.[55]

14 January 2010










51   In Primary Schools this part of the curriculum is known as Understanding Physical Development, Health and Well-being. Back

52   UK Youth Parliament. SRE-Are you getting it?, June 2007. Back

53   Populus/Blue Rubicon Sex Education Poll, 2009 Back

54   Nicole Stone and Roger Ingham, Exploration of the factors that affect the delivery of sex and sexuality education and support in schools, Centre for Sexual Health Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, July 1998 Back

55   K Wellings et al, Sexual behaviour in Britain: early heterosexual experience, The Lancet, Vol 358, 1 December 2001 Back


 
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