Education Quandary

Sex education for the under-11s? At my school we want our children to enjoy their childhood

Hilary's advice

Don't believe what you read in the newspapers about sex education. Many papers know that a horror story in this area punches readers' buttons and are far too willing to stretch the truth accordingly.

Government advisers on sex education do not want to instruct primary pupils in sexual mechanics. They want to help them understand emotional issues of friendships and relationships, and as they get older, some things about puberty.

Learning to understand and respect ourselves and others is the basis of all good behaviour, sexual or otherwise, and given that many girls now start their periods as young as eight, it would be wrong not to give them the factual knowledge they need, when they need it.

Some people argue that this is a parent's job, but many parents just don't do it. So what should schools do then? Leave pupils to flounder in an increasingly sexualised society without any sort of help?

In The Netherlands, a comprehensive sex-education programme gets good results, although other factors such as parental monitoring and pupils' ability to talk openly to their partners, also seem to be significant. So it seems that, whatever schools do or don't do, it will never amount to much on its own. And the fact that we have the highest teen-pregnancy rate in western Europe and rapidly-rising levels of sexually transmitted diseases, says far more about the state of our society than the state of our schools.

Readers' advice

The phenomenon of children becoming prematurely sexualised is an inevitable consequence of a crassly oversexualised modern culture. And the grotesque irony - one no doubt lost on the policy-makers - is that these primary school sex-education lessons will bring about precisely the opposite of their intention, with the natural maturational processes of childhood being even more prematurely encroached upon and distorted than they are already.
Richard House, Roehampton University

As I understand it, there is evidence from countries abroad, as well as from cities like Liverpool, Bradford and London, that teenagers who postpone their first sexual experience, are more confident in their dealings with the opposite sex, and are less likely to get pregnant, after having personal, social and health education at school. But the best programmes appear to be ones where children are helped to understand their emotions and how to handle them, not just learn about sex.
Jane Witherall, Peterborough

It's too late to "keep children as children" when they already feel themselves to be male or female. Do we help them to understand this mystery or leave it to grow until it blots out all other emotions as puberty begins? As a teacher in a Scottish comprehensive, my pupils arrive, at 12, too late to start the process of helping to make sense of their inner nature. Let the lessons start before the hormones surge through their systems. All this can happen within a context of morality and good taste.
Ainslie Walton, Glasgow

Next quandary

I am furious to discover that my daughter's history teacher is playing the clarinet in a local jazz band several evenings a week when her homework is often returned late and his lessons don't appear to be well-prepared enough to hold pupils' interest. What can I do? Can I complain to the school? Can the school stop him?

Send your letters to Hilary Wilce by Monday, at 'The Independent', Education Desk, Independent House, 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS; or fax: 020-7005 2143; or e-mails: h.wilce@btinternet.com. Please include details of your postal address. Readers whose letters are printed will receive a Berol Combi Pack containing a cartridge pen, handwriting pen and ink eraser