I will be the first to admit that sex ed sucks. No matter what age you are or which teacher has been nominated to take it, the class is an awkward experience for everyone involved. But if we put the uncomfortable aspect to one side for now, one thing that does need to be discussed is the diversity (or lack thereof) within sex education. Government guidance on RSE (the official name for sex ed) requires a broad base of knowledge to be given to students, however unfortunately, this does not really happen in practice: the Young People’s RSE Poll 2021 outlines some shocking statistics about sex education before and during Covid. Although it highlights the ‘typical’ areas being well covered such as bullying, puberty and conception, there is a serious lack of education in other places, such as sexual orientation, gender identity, and – oddly enough – sexual pleasure. So how can better education be implemented?
Before that, a bit of history courtesy of OpenLearn. Sex education was first seen as far back as the late 19th century, with publications mainly aimed at parents being produced. However, these were mainly focused on personal hygiene: while very important, not quite what people are looking for in this area. The 1920s was when the first girl/boy split in education was first seen, with advice for girls focussing on self control and modesty, whilst the boys were schooled on the temptations of factory life, with some references to sex.
It was in the wake of the Second World War that sex ed really took off, with a specific focus on the prevention of syphilis and gonorrhoea, likely due to the mass movement of soldiers at the time. Roll on the 1950s and 60s with descriptions of non-human reproductive systems and warnings of the dangers of masturbation (for the boys at least). Interestingly, the reproductive side of things was confined to biology lessons, and as this was seen as a subject better suited to girls, fewer boys were educated in this side of things due to lower uptake. In the 70s and 80s, discussions of relationships, decision making and parenting were added into the mix, though this was in PHSE rather than biology.
What we have is an evolution over a period of about 60 years, and then an apparent stall on proceedings. Besides the merging of the two separate classes into one to form RSE, how much change has there been in recent years? The complete lack of diversity and education for minority groups such as the disabled community and LGBTQ+ community would indicate that there hasn’t been much. Researching into the possible reasons, there was one fairly big cause – Section 28.
Section 28 came into force through the Local Government Act 1988, prohibiting schools and local authorities from “promoting homosexuality”. Given the ongoing stigmas with HIV/AIDS at the time, as well as homosexuality only being recently decriminalised in England and Wales (1967), Scotland (1980) and Northern Ireland (1982), this law did not help pave the path towards acceptance. Though it was finally repealed in Scotland in 2000, with the rest of the UK following suit in 2003, the damage was done: a significant minority of people went through their secondary years without receiving sex education relevant to them, and this is not something that has changed very much. According to the 2021 RSE Poll, around 28% of pupils did not receive any information relevant to people who identify as non-heterosexual, and a shocking 38% did not learn about any aspect of gender identity or receive information about trans or non-binary people.
Sadly, the LGBTQ+ community are not the only minority group to receive inadequate sex education. The disabled community also face a lack of information, due to the implicit presumption that people who are not able bodied have no interest in sex. Don’t get me wrong: asexuality and aromanticism are completely valid identities (on that note, when was the last time anything under the ace umbrella was discussed in the context of RSE?). But assuming people’s sexual preferences and not providing education on this basis is a dangerous practice which must be rectified. Although the RSE Poll does not have any statistics on discussions of disability, sex and relationships – telling on its own if you ask me – they do have data for sexual pleasure. 46% of students did not learn about this at all. 46%. Sexual pleasure comes in so many different forms, and this changes depending on a person’s age, sexual orientation, gender identity, whether they are able-bodied or disabled… the list goes on. Seems like a pretty good place to start, and a fundamental gap in the curriculum.
Sex ed has been mandatory in schools since the Children and Social Work Act of 2017, and there are an additional fifty pages of government guidance to support schools in implementing the curriculum. But how effective is all of this information? Going back to the RSE Poll again, there has been an alarming reduction in sex ed provisions post-Covid. At the time of the poll’s publication, 49% of students reporting receiving no sex education from schools over the lockdowns, and 48% received none from parents. This is both shocking and dangerous, and is something that must be tackled.
However it’s not all doom and gloom. In 2021, Scotland made history by being the first country in the world to implement LGBTQ+ inclusive education into the school curriculum. This is a huge step in the right direction to improve RSE and representation as a whole. It will be interesting to see how this is implemented, and if other countries will follow suit.
So we are moving in the right direction, but it is a painfully slow process: how much longer do students have to wait to see a fully inclusive sex ed curriculum? Hopefully the new program in Scotland will start to put an end to past biases and see everyone get the education they are entitled to and deserve. Be safe everyone!
