Father removes 9 yr old daughter from school over sex ed lessons

Every child develops differently…I never got any sex Ed at school, because I was considered ‘bright’ and they jumped me a year…but in doing that I missed out on a lot of basics I felt the lack of later! As younger teenagers I remember being in the car with my younger sister ( probably aged 13 and 10? In c. 1959 ) and we were discussing some celebrity or other whom we said was a ‘homo’ - my mother ( born in 1908) who was driving turned to us and said “What is a homosexual?’ …. we were both
scarlet with embarrassment at having to explain.
Kids learn all sorts much earlier now and I’m in full agreement that they should learn the true facts early before they come across ‘ all the rest’ online etc…. At an early age of around 9 most of them will not be sexualised yet, so it should stand them in good stead to understand things when sex begins to rear its head…as it did for all of us sooner or later. If they have sensible parents they will discuss whatever topic arises without bias, helping the child to have a rounded view of what they will inevitably come across later and hopefully disregard the smut that will be spread in the school yard!
Being so called Christian has NO bearing on education, sexual or otherwise! This parent ( IF that is what happened given the twisting that goes on in all media) is doing a severe disservice to his child. She is now going to equate sex as ‘wrong’!

its not about religion but why are they teaching anal sex and masterbation to young pre teens??? Even giving masterbation as homework!!!

VioletSky

You only have to look at the people still coming to this thread believing 9 year olds are learning about anal sex to see the damage that newspaper does

I don't know why it's allowed

Ignorance is bliss but knowledge is power, so they say. It just makes me wonder why people are happy to be left in ignorance by these newspapers thus handing them great power over us.

My daughter is in year 4. It's not the mechanics of sex that's taught at this age. It's relationships, different families and values.

Educating children is empowering them

There seems to be from some people an idea that if we don’t teach children about sex they won’t indulge and that teaching children will encourage them to engage in sexual activity. I went to a Catholic high school where there was no sex education until we were 15/16 and even then it was of the most basic kind. Sex education was given at the local comprehensive. Guess which school had the most teenage pregnancies? And no it wasn’t the comprehensive.

You only have to look at the people still coming to this thread believing 9 year olds are learning about anal sex to see the damage that newspaper does

I don't know why it's allowed

Oh just read some of the comments and I’m actually crying - whether from laughing or disbelief is difficult to know, of course people “indulged” in under-age sex, sex outside of marriage, oral sex, anal sex and in the hippy era of the 60’s group sex !! I think the two most important lessons our pubescent children need to learn is what “consent” actually means and no one has the right to touch your body if you don’t want them too, followed by contraception and STD’s and that sex, at an appropriate time is a great thing plus learning about the dangers of grooming

After a school sex education lesson, my very bright 11 year old granddaughter was terribly worried that she'd been born in the wrong body because she has hairy legs. Thankfully she's the sort of child who tells her mum her worries and so was reassured hairy legs are perfectly normal for girls. My other granddaughter is a different personality and would have internalised her worries and become very stressed. At 11, children's brains are still developing. They cannot process too much information all at once. They are not mini adults. They need good, basic sex education, but they definitely don't need all the details until they are older.

Just two small things to say, at this age sex Ed is biological, talks about safeguarding and consent and is useful, it’s a parents right to remove a child from these lessons, however removing from school, unless going to home school, will do nothing as sex Ed on the national curriculum, point 2) RE now covers ALL religions and is a great learning

Doodledog

kircubbin2000

We didn't have any sex education and I'm glad now that I'm not young and expected to do some of these things young people indulge in.
I didn't believe people actually did things like oral or anal sex until relatively recently.

Oh they did 😀.

There is lots of evidence from paintings (including graffiti) in Roman ruins, for example. And it was usual for Ancient Greeks to have women for procreation and boys for pleasure - the rich ones anyway. Also the use of the term ’French practices’ for oral and anal sex (both of which carried minimal risk of pregnancy) shows that people in both France and England partook, and there is no reason to believe that it didn’t happen elsewhere.

I don’t think that anything people do in bed is new. Each generation thinks they invented it, but that’s because it is new to them, and there is something taboo about imagining your parents being sexual beings.

Exactly - and in many cultures or communities where virginity is 'prized, anal sex is actually a common practice because they think that 'technically' it means the woman is still a virgin! No, I don't understand it either, but it happens.

TerriBull

"Misogynistic" The DM may well be in some respects, but having read Hadley Freeman's account of why she left The Guardian and now writes for The ST, she and others feel that it also biased . Under the auspices of it's female editor HF stated that woman will happily throw journalists such as her and Suzanne Moore under the bus in their opposition to a well known male journalist who writes for The Guardian and who many women now regard as a misogynist.

Oh yes.

Not just for opposing OJ, but for having views which conflict with the Guardian's party line on women's rights as they are threatened by trans rights.

As a very old retired teacher - mother and grandmother - I am astounded by the lack of general knowledge about what I would consider important subjects, among many of the young people who have just been through our education system. So many seem to have no idea of geography- UK or worldwide, poor literacy and language skills, no interest in or knowledge of history- recent or distant, very little knowledge of art or literature - all things that I would deem important. However, I’m old so what do I know? Anyone can learn about sex at any time - but there are so many other interesting subjects and experiences for 9 yr olds to learn about the world they live in, than what some humans like to do about sex whatever their sexuality- Let those children be children - childhood is short and precious.

She was lucky, my family were on holiday for the one sex education lesson we were scheduled for in the early 70s for a 4th year junior class.
So I got to see the film in the company of my parents and younger sister!

"Misogynistic" The DM may well be in some respects, but having read Hadley Freeman's account of why she left The Guardian and now writes for The ST, she and others feel that it also biased . Under the auspices of it's female editor HF stated that woman will happily throw journalists such as her and Suzanne Moore under the bus in their opposition to a well known male journalist who writes for The Guardian and who many women now regard as a misogynist.

Crazy for him to do that...yes we have the "talk" with our kids but it being backed up in school even at the age of 9/10 has to be a good thing?
Does he not realise that some kids become sexually active at a very young age

FYI
sex-matters.org/posts/category/publications/

I’m horrified that ten year old children are being taught about anal sex
Why on earth do they need to know about anything other than the norm ?

I don't care what pet names people choose to use but they need to know the real terms for things and a grown man taking his daughter to a doctor should be able to label these

Otherwise his 9 year old is way ahead of him despite being pulled out

calling it a flower or a mini or any of the silly nonsense names I hear just won’t cut it…

And yet ‘bonus hole’ or ‘front hole’ from adults are quite acceptable and to be respected……….
Children need to know the correct terms for the parts of their bodies, but surely medics are used to hearing many euphemisms as we were informed in past threads?

Children are in need of knowledge about how their bodies will change and develop and be readied for puberty, and of course correct anatomical terms should be used. Where does the enlightenment of sexual practices stop though? Is every possible sexual practice to be imparted to them before they’re 16 or who decides which ones are featured and which ones won’t be? We answered all our children’s questions honestly but with total regard to their individual development and ability to absorb the answers. Blanket teaching of a whole class full of children cannot be so accommodating so I think some caution is required. As an aside I do hope they’re all being educated on the difference between a vulva and a vagina, too many, women included, seem totally ignorant of female anatomy 🙄

And yes, Callistemon. I agree with your post, too.

You are right about the Guardian's agenda, Dickens. I read it, and have done so for decades, but question the bias just as I do when I read other sources. I also read the Telegraph, and coming from my political persuasion I do find it comes from a very obviously Tory (and a particular type of middle class/older/white/traditional type of Tory) perspective. That's fine - I have no problem with people having different views - I just allow for that when coming to my own conclusions.

I only see the Sun or the Mail when there are links from somewhere like here, and I apply the same judgement, bearing in mind the types of publication they are. IMO the sort of 'you must be gullible to even read that' attitude is every bit as narrow-minded and lacking in nuance as the papers themselves. People can use judgement.

Also, there is nothing wrong with taking even the most outrageously biased (or even bigoted) headline as a starting point for a discussion. If a paper ran a story about banning the sale of milk to be kind to cows (^they haven't, and AFAIK there is absolutely no move towards making this happen^) there could still be a good discussion about animal cruelty, farming methods, veganism, the rights and wrongs of 'banning' things, and so on.

I think this is true of most threads on a range of subjects, but on this one we are discussing the level at which sex education should be taught to younger children. The spin put on the story by various papers isn't particularly relevant to the debate. This is a discussion site, not a press agency.

Freya5

DaisyAnneReturns

If this has happened because the BBC programme was misused it seems entirely solvable. It would need following up with schools.

Personally, I would need to know that this was the case before I will believe that is what happened. It perhaps seems unfair, but I doubt I will ever believe something where the start of the story comes from the gutter press. I think these papers cause immense pain and devastation and we don't yet seem to have any actual proof.

The "gutter" press. You seem to be maligning 31.3 million people who read something that doesn't meet with your approval.

It has been reported widely.
The BBC announced that it has withdrawn that particular part of its programme.

You may think it is only reported in the gutter press whatever that may mean, but it is just as well the DM and other publications bring to public attention such worrying trends which some members of society think are suitable to be taught to young children, whether at school, through theatre production, wherever.
It is a determined and insidious campaign.

I have discovered that usually the best place to read about these sorts of stories are the smaller local news outlets. They tend to have a more straightforward writing style and being locally involved, a more honest and accountable approach

Kandinsky

The ‘gutter press’ is anything other than the guardian.
Obviously.

The Guardian is just more subtle about its bias - but it has a narrative which you will discover , if you go against it in the comments section.

And, of course, there are not so many flaunters in the G...

The Telegraph is worth a read. We don't all just stick to the Guardian.

And reading about our domestic politics in the foreign press can be interesting, too.