Sex education must be compulsory in all schools and include information about same-sex relationships and health issues like HIV, says the British government. Primary school children will learn about parts of the body, the facts of life and puberty, while secondary schoolers will be taught about pregnancy, contraception, HIV, same-sex relationships, and the emotional impact of having sex, say new rules. Parents can still choose to keep their children away from sex education on moral or religious grounds, but only until they are 15 years old. "One-third of schools in England are faith schools and the plans suggest that pupils could be taught about same-sex relationships while learning that they are against their religion," reports PinkNews.co.uk. "You can teach the promotion of marriage, you can teach that you shouldn't have sex outside of marriage, what you can't do is deny young people information about contraception outside of marriage," explains school secretary Ed Balls. "The same arises in homosexuality. Some faiths have a view about what in religious terms is right and wrong – what they can't do though is not teach the importance of tolerance."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Friday, 6th November 2009 - 8:45am