There’s been rather a lot going on this week. Obama’s final speech, a sad reminder that the world’s favourite surrogate dad is leaving the international stage which we’re all still reeling from and making memes to get over. And then, there was the Donald Trump dossier thing and press conference that followed. Unsubstantiated and unverified allegations about the president elect have captured almost everyone’s imagination and attention.
While you were (understandably) distracted by all of this, Parliament once again kicked sex and relationships education into the long grass.
On Tuesday an amendment tabled by Labour MP Stella Creasy was blocked by Conservative MPs on the Children and Social Work Bill’s committee. Labour’s proposals included that PSHE lessons should include education on same sex relationships, consent, sexual violence and domestic violence.
SRE guidance has not been updated by Government since 2000, despite repeated calls for this to be done so it covers more than just the biological mechanics of sex.
Pretty much anyone worth their salt thinks we need updated and compulsory SRE education in our schools. Senior MPs of all parties, charities like Banardo’s and the Women’s Equality Party all think this is long overdue. Indeed, young people themselves want to see it happen. According to a Barnardo’s survey released yesterdaythree quarters of 11 to 15 year-olds (74%) think that they would be safer with age-appropriate SRE lessons.
If the other reports out there are anything to go by, the kids are right about this one. Last year a Women and Equalities Committee reportfound that close to a third of 16-18 year-old girls had experienced unwanted touching at school. In recent years NSPCC research has corroborated this, in 2009 they found that 27% of girls between the ages of 13-17 had experienced sexual violence in their relationships.
Despite all of this, SRE guidance has still not been updated. The world we live in has changed dramatically since the year 2000, when I started secondary school. We didn’t have smartphones then, we didn’t send picture sexts, we didn’t have Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat or Instagram and online pornography certainly wasn’t so widespread and prolific as it is today. Many of us, now in our twenties, wouldn’t recognise the experience of being a teenager, going through puberty and becoming sexually active now. Surely it’s time SRE in schools caught up and gave young people the information and support they need and deserve?
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.