Front page news this morning is that schools need to start teaching boys how to treat girls, because with all the porn flooding the internet and iPhones, the situation in the playground’s getting grim. The campaigners behind the call for schools to revamp their sex education comes in light of new statistics showing that one in three girls is groped or victim to some sort of unwanted touching while at school.
At present, state schools have to provide some sort of sex education, though free schools and academies are allowed to remove it from their curriculum if they want to. Now that most state schools are academies, this basically means that a lot of children might be going without a proper sex education. And even when they do get sex education, it's not keeping up with what kids are able to access themselves online.
one in three girls is groped or victim to some sort of unwanted touching while at school
'In an age of one-click-away violent and degrading pornography online that is becoming the default sex-educator for some young people, the current teaching is woefully inadequate,’ say the campaigners, who include Everyday Sexism’s Laura Bates.
They’ve got a point. The current sex education syllabus was written 14 years ago when the most readily available w**k-fodder to young blokes was Britney Spears's video to Born To Make You Happy, which was number one this very week in 2000.
'Since then internet use has grown exponentially and the lack of reference to the internet, online bullying or mobile technology in the guidelines seems hopelessly out of touch,’ the campaigners continue. 'Four in five of our users think sex education should address issues like pornography and sexting, and from a relatively young age.'
Hopefully this letter is going to sway some opinions ahead of tomorrow, when an amendment requiring all state-funded schools to teach sex education will be read and potentially made into law by the House of Lords.
Depressingly though, the Department of Education's official line on this is that they're leaving it up to the teachers to decide what they want to teach instead of legislating from above: 'Our reforms have… given teachers the freedom to tailor their teaching so it meets the needs of their pupils, as we believe it is they who know pupils best — not politicians.'
A sad state of affairs when some aren't even getting the basic here's-how-to-put-a-condom-on and this-is-what-a-period-is lesson. Fingers crossed for some sanity political change tomorrow.
Follow Sophie Wilkinson on twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.