JOHN SMEATON, DIRECTOR OF SPUC: Help us stop science lessons being used to teach sex to primary school children

Thursday, 20 June 2013

Help us stop science lessons being used to teach sex to primary school children

SPUC is committed to opposing explicit and provocative sex education. We believe that graphic lessons on sex in school are inciting young children to become sexually active in their teens or even before. Illegal, underage sexual activity leads to teenage pregnancies, rising rates of sexually-transmitted diseases and the tragedy of teenage abortions.

The new draft National Curriculum for science at Key Stages 1 and 2 has made clear that young children should not be given information about sex in science lessons.

SPUC's Safe at School campaign has campaigned vigorously against the abuse of the National Curriculum for science at Key Stages 1 and 2. Primary schools around the country have been teaching children about sex in compulsory science lessons from which their parents cannot withdraw them. This is a blatant attack on parents’ rights to protect their children from sex lessons they consider inappropriate.

The draft National Curriculum for primary science at Key stage 1, includes “Notes and guidance” which state that:

the parts of the human body which children aged 5-7 should be able to identify do not include the sexual organs
children “should not be expected to understand how reproduction occurs”.

The “Notes and guidance” are labelled as non-statutory, which means a teacher could ignore them. The draft curriculum for science at Key Stage 2 remains very vague. Children must be taught to describe the “life processes of reproduction in some animals and plants”. Some teachers are interpreting this to mean that sexual must be taught. This is an abuse of the national curriculum.

Action points:

Parents of primary school children should ask to see the lesson plans for science classes to find out if sex is being taught.
Parents should contact Safe at School straight away if their child’s primary school is abusing the national curriculum.
Order copies of the latest edition of SPUC's campaign bulletin on sex and relationships education - by email to orders@spuc.org.uk or by telephoning 020 7091 7091.

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About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 42 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.