On Jan. 9, a new reform was proposed by an all-female Labour MP group led by Stella Creasy on the Child and Social Work Bill regarding the LGBT-inclusive Sex and Relationships Education in normal teachings in schools. According to PinkNews, the bill would “make it mandatory in all schools for personal, social and health education to include lessons on “sex and relationships education, same-sex relationships, sexual consent, sexual violence, and domestic violence”.” as the bill only previously plans to include the teachings of relationships and sex to the restriction of straight couples – which can be harmful as it perpetuates further heteronormativity amongst children.
In addition, the reform of the bill would make Ofsted include the teachings of sex and relationships education as a part of the inspection features when inspecting schools; to those who are not familiar with Ofsted, they are the ones who gives every school a rating after yearly inspections – these ratings make or break a school’s reputation amongst those looking for new schools to apply their children in.
Not only the reform on the bill would certainly move the thinking of the future generation forward, it would also reduce the stigma around the different sexualities that people identify with other than being straight – and since the bill was focused on the children’s education of sex and relationships, it would lead the future to the right direction.
However, on January 11, when the bill was presented to a directory of 10 Conservative MPs and the 5 Labour MPs who originally proposed the reform on the legislation, the vote ended with a 10:5 ratio where the majority voted “No” to further discuss and pass the reform on the bill, thus restricting the plans for an LGBT-inclusive sex education to exist in schools. This means that sex education, in general, would still not be compulsory in schools, which can lead to the lack of knowledge amongst students about sex and more misconceptions about the act itself.
So to Justine Greening, the Education Secretary of the UK, what will you do now? When are your promised reforms that you said were “near the top of your tray” going to come in place? Today? Tomorrow? In 20 years, when you’ve been replaced?
Having discussed the importance of sex education amongst my classmates (whom I go to a Catholic school with), I cannot stress enough how badly children and teens need it. The taboo surrounding the idea of sex overall amongst teens should easily be overcome, especially when the UK boasts one of the highest teen pregnancy rates amongst the world. And at this day and age, using the reason of “Faith schools oppose homosexuality, therefore we should block it” is simply, just out of date. Someone can be gay
And at this day and age, using the reason of “Faith schools oppose homosexuality, therefore we should block it” is simply, just out of date. Someone can be gay and Christian at the same time if you didn’t know.
