JOHN SMEATON, DIRECTOR OF SPUC: Safe at School seriously concerned by 'expert' group writing porn guidelines for schools

Thursday, 16 January 2014

Safe at School seriously concerned by 'expert' group writing porn guidelines for schools

SPUC's Safe at School campaign has expressed serious concern about the so-called 'expert' group which the Department for Education has convened to write guidelines for schools on how to teach pupils about pornography.

Antonia Tully, national co-ordinator of Safe at School told the media today:

"We are very concerned about the organisations in this 'expert' group. The SEF has already produced suggestions and lesson ideas for teachers on how to teach children about pornography. These lessons are not about warning children and teenagers about the dangers of pornography. The SEF lessons are promoting pornography; encouraging children and teenagers to explore and embrace it."

Safe at School is presenting a petition of over 22,000 signatures to the Department for Education calling on the Secretary of State for Education to prohibit all promotion of pornography in schools.

Antonia continued:

"We need to be clear that the Department for Education is not changing the statutory guidelines for teaching sex education, which schools are obliged to follow. The expert group is only writing advice for schools. There is a danger that schools will be confused and think that they have to follow this advice."

Safe at School, along with 20 pro-family groups and individuals, including nine MPs, sent Michael Gove MP an open letter calling on him to recognise that parents are the primary educators of their children on sexual matters. The letter stated any group writing sex education guidelines for schools must include organisations which recognise the primacy of parents.

Antonia concluded:

"Most parents would be horrified to see the approach that the SEF is taking. The SEF message is: 'As long as you can tell the difference between reality and pornography, there's no problem'. Rather, parents are the right people to teach their own children about sexual matters."

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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.