Eight-year-olds shown highly inappropriate sex ed videos

Parents have expressed outrage after their eight-year-old children were shown a video about masturbation and wet dreams during a lesson.

Year four pupils at a Church of England school in Birmingham were shown a video explaining what happens to boys during puberty.

Since September 2020, all state-funded primary schools in England have been required to deliver Health Education. Among other topics, this includes teaching the “key facts about puberty and the changing adolescent body, particularly from age 9 through to age 11”.

‘Inappropriate’

One mother contacted the school after her daughter came home very upset following the lesson.

She said: “I am very angry about this because I don’t want my eight-year-old daughter being taught about masturbation and wet dreams”. Other parents she spoke with felt “exactly the same way”.

The mother added: “I didn’t know she was learning about this. She told me she felt very uncomfortable when being told about it”.

She said the school’s head teacher “reluctantly accepted the video was inappropriate”.

Parental rights

The Christian Institute’s Head of Education, John Denning, called the video “highly inappropriate”.

He said: “Quite sensibly, this school’s draft RSHE policy states teaching on puberty will be delivered in single-sex groups. But this lesson abandoned that sensible approach. This was a completely inappropriate video to be shown to children of that age.

“It’s really important the school RSHE policies are clear about what is covered, are written following consultation with parents and that schools then stick to them.”

Parental involvement

Last month, The Daily Telegraph reported that Rishi Sunak plans to clarify that parents may view relationships and sex education content, including resources provided by outside organisations.

The Department for Education statutory guidance currently states: “Schools should ensure that parents know what will be taught and when, and clearly communicate the fact that parents have the right to request that their child be withdrawn from some or all of sex education delivered as part of statutory RSE”.

It adds: “Parents should be given every opportunity to understand the purpose and content of Relationships Education and RSE. Good communication and opportunities for parents to understand and ask questions about the school’s approach help increase confidence in the curriculum.”