Parents in Kent have complained that their children were left “worried” and “confused” by a school assembly about homosexuality.
Teachers at Bromstone Primary in Broadstairs played a song by openly homosexual singer Elton John and then explained what the term ‘homosexual’ means. The children were shown pictures of homosexual couples.
The parents said they had not been consulted before the assembly and were treated as ‘homophobic’ when they raised concerns.
Gemma Martin, whose four and seven-year-old children attend the school, said some children were now worried “about being friends with each other”.
She said: “Little girls often cuddle each other if one of them is crying or has fallen over, and now they are afraid to do that in case the others think they are gay”.
Another mother, Michelle Cosgrove, who has three children at the school, said: “There is no way on this earth I’m homophobic – I just want the choice as a parent to talk to my children about this when the time is appropriate.”
She said the assembly had mentioned the example of two boys holding hands or kissing, adding that her children had come home with questions about homosexuality.
The school’s head teacher, Nigel Utton, said the way the assembly tackled homosexuality was age-appropriate and that other parents had approved.
He said it was part of an anti-bullying initiative spearheaded by Kent County Council, and added: “Five-year-olds understand about relationships and about liking people”.
Earlier this year it was reported that Christian and Muslim parents of children at an East London school could face prosecution after keeping their children at home during controversial lessons promoting homosexuality.
In February it emerged that children as young as 14 had taken part in a production of Romeo and Julian, a homosexual version of William Shakespeare’s famous play, at another school in East London.