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Parliament vote AGAINST sex education being compulsory in all schools!

Poll

Do you think sex education should be compulsory in schools?

A story on the Telegraph today shows that - shockingly - parliament have voted against sex and relationship education being compulsory in schools.

This is despite three-quarters of young people believing compulsory SRE would make them feel safer.

A previous thread on TSR also revealed how over 80% of you would want your teachers to educate you about - at the very least - the 'basics'.

In an era where young people can access anything they like through their smartphones, do you think people in positions of power have a duty to ensure they're correctly educated?

The Telegraph also states: "Beyond labelling diagrams of the uterus, young people need to be taught about the dangers of meeting people online, the risks of dating apps like Tinder, the consequences of ‘sexting’ and the difficult, and potentially, life-ruining situations it can put you in." Not to mention the current syllabus only recognises heterosexual sex/relationships...

What would/do you want to be taught about?

Do you think sex education should be compulsory in schools?

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Reply 1
I think sex education should be compulsory. I went to a Catholic grammar and for all of my 7 years there, we were taught that abstaining from sex was right, sex before marriage was wrong. In fact, in none of the 'sex ed' classes I received was there a mention of contraception like the pill, condoms etc. We weren't even taught how to use condoms, and were told that being gay was wrong. :colonhash:

I understand that, yes, I went to Catholic school, but it's the 21st century, for crying out loud! It's fine if they want to teach no sex before marriage, that is the Catholic line of teaching, but they should also respect that no sex before marriage does not always happen and so they should include other teachings as well (contraception etc).

/rant
Good. There is no need for sex education at schools. If young children are forced to learn about sex, then it is more likely that they will start having sex earlier.
They will say that this is all about promotion, and this or that religion thinks that homosexuality—or another element—is not right.


Oh would you look at that, religion holding back society once again.
Good.
Reply 5
Original post by Len Goodman
Good. There is no need for sex education at schools. If young children are forced to learn about sex, then it is more likely that they will start having sex earlier.


Being educated about sex isn't going to necessarily encourage young people to do it. If anything, a lack of knowledge and understanding about it will harbour curiosity and young people may be more inclined to want to explore it for themselves, as it seems somewhat 'taboo'.

In The Netherlands, they introduce sex education (although diluted) to children as young as 4, and on average teens in the Netherlands do not have sex at an earlier age than those in other European countries/the US. Plus they seem to have much lower teen-pregnancy rates than the UK.
Original post by Len Goodman
Good. There is no need for sex education at schools. If young children are forced to learn about sex, then it is more likely that they will start having sex earlier.


So surely that suggests a need for learning about sex sooner? Sex is everywhere - TV, film, social media - this generation has more access to 'sex' than ever before.

Don't we have a responsibility to support and guide them to help them make the right decisions rather than ignore the fact that it's happening?
Original post by Len Goodman
Good. There is no need for sex education at schools. If young children are forced to learn about sex, then it is more likely that they will start having sex earlier.


I agree with this to a certain extent, however when people reach the age of consent they need to know how to do things safely. Many of the people in my year at school are completely clueless about pretty much all areas of sexual safety and intimate health. In our early teens, we were taught abstinence-only. Now that we're old enough to be having sex legally, we're expected to know everything about it. One of my classmates thought that the pill protected against STIs. Plus, there are many people I know who started having sex younger than is legal, even without sex education. If young people are going to be having sex anyway, it's best to make sure that they know how to reduce the risk they're putting themselves at.
Reply 8
The UK government is literally voting to make the country stupider. What a time to be alive. :colonhash:
It should be made compulsory. I was never taught sex education at home, so having been taught at school was valuable for me as I was never going to be able to have the knowledge taught to me by my parents, let's face it.

If children don't learn it at school, and neither at home, they could be viewing pornographical videos online and learn it that way. They need to learn how to have it safely as most young people are so clueless about this.
Original post by Len Goodman
Good. There is no need for sex education at schools. If young children are forced to learn about sex, then it is more likely that they will start having sex earlier.


Do you have anything to back that up other than a baseless assertion?

Just when you think conservative Christians forcing politicians into making clearly ridiculous political desicions is a preserve of the US, the ss of Parliament gets up to you, that, no, they are also idiots chasing thefickle wants of an imaginery being.
Original post by Dez
The UK government is literally voting to make the country stupider. What a time to be alive. :colonhash:


And their excuse it they don't want to upset the religious types, maybe they are worried they might be called racist.

Deja vu.
100% yes. Young people need to learn about their bodies, preventing unplanned pregnancies and preventing the spread of vd's as more and more are becoming resistant to most treatments. Another huge issue is consent which still apparently needs to be discussed as well. So again, 100% yes
I'd rather learn sex education from my teachers rather than other 12 year old's with no knowledge whatsoever.
I think yes as it's important for young people to know the consequences of their actions.

BUT.... it's becoming more pointless as modern society is producing more and more chavs who probs know that if you screw a woman without contraception she becomes pregnant. But instead of applying what they know to not ruin other's lives they prefer to be ignorant. And the proportion of smart people to these idiots is favouring the idiots more and more.

just my opinion though, in objection to my point there, the smart people need to know their consequences, hence why i voted yes :smile:
It's important to respect the freedom of religion, faith schools shouldn't be forced to teach subject matter that is potentially inflammatory in their belief system.

Another example is Darwin's theory of evolution, that shouldn't be compulsory to teach in faith schools either.

Now, obviously I realise the importance of sex Ed as much as the next man, but we can't make it compulsory and impinge on freedom of religion, which is a human right, if we start doing that it's a slippery slope, which human rights are absolute and which ones aren't?
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Len Goodman
Good. There is no need for sex education at schools. If young children are forced to learn about sex, then it is more likely that they will start having sex earlier.

I read up on the history of cremation once, still don't fancy cremating a dead body anytime soon.

Teenagers going through puberty are horny animals anyway, if they want to they'll do it regardless of education or not.
Reply 17
Original post by Dez
The UK government is literally voting to make the country stupider. What a time to be alive. :colonhash:


Of course, they want you stupid so they can control you easier.
Original post by Len Goodman
Good. There is no need for sex education at schools. If young children are forced to learn about sex, then it is more likely that they will start having sex earlier.


You don't think that learning about contraception is important at all? You can't stop horny teens from having sex, so why not make sure that they are aware of contraception?
Original post by Len Goodman
Good. There is no need for sex education at schools. If young children are forced to learn about sex, then it is more likely that they will start having sex earlier.


Except teenagers have sex anyway, not teaching them about it just causes them to not do it safely.

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