Sex education resources should be vetted to ensure that children as young as five are protected from “extraordinarily inappropriate” content, a Conservative MP has warned.
Andrea Leadsom MP said she was concerned that some parents in her constituency were “horrified” to discover what their kids were being taught in sex education.
Sexual
Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament, Mrs Leadsom said that sex education resources should be scrutinised by the British Board of Film Classification before they are bought by schools and local authorities.
She explained the reasons behind her call, saying: “I have seen cartoons of two people engaged in sexual activity with the caption: ‘Here are some ways mummies and daddies fit together’. Other images depict two cartoon characters locked in an intimate embrace accompanied by a vivid explanation, using sexual terminology, of the act of intercourse.
“As well as cartoons, I have been shown a video of two people engaged in intercourse with a child’s voice over the top saying, ‘It looks like they’re having fun’.
“I have also been shown leaflets given out to primary school children that give graphic definitions of orgasms, masturbation and prostitution.”
Inappropriate
However, schools minister Nick Gibb said: “There are safeguards in place to protect children from inappropriate materials.
“First, governing bodies have a statutory responsibility to ensure that schools have a policy on sex education, which, as a minimum, should give information about how sex education will be provided, any sensitive issues that will be covered and who will provide it.
“Secondly, local authorities, school governing bodies and head teachers must have regard to the Secretary of State’s statutory, “Sex and Relationships Education Guidance”.
Explicit
Earlier this year The Christian Institute released a report revealing explicit resources being recommended for use in primary schools that choose to teach sex education.
One of the suggested resources is a card game where children as young as five could be asked to match sexually explicit terms, such as masturbation and anal sex, with definitions.