Does sex education make more children sexually active earlier?
Does teaching a child how to ride a bicycle properly make her go out and ride it on the motorway? Again and again we have heard internationally that if sex education is taught sensitively and thoroughly in schools or youth clubs, the pupils like it, their parents like it – and their parents want their younger brothers and sisters to have it at an earlier age. A lot of good sex education is to do with developing positive behaviour such as good listening skills and mutual respect and honesty. These are skills which can be taught and practised as soon as a child starts school. The biological details can follow later, when a child is older. But if the right building blocks are in place from an earlier age, there is much more chance of the sex education being good. Children and young people have far more sense than we often give them credit for. They NEED the right information, so that they can judge and make informed choices for themselves. If we tell them don’t do this, you mustn’t do tha
