Childhood & Sex Education

Last night I heard on the radio that a school in Scotland had written to parents regarding a change in uniform regulation - fair enough - however, parents at the school were very concerned that the letter had alluded to the changes in uniform being due to "tight trousers" for boys and "short skirts" for girls attracting paedophiles.  Hmmmm.  Listen to the report here, 22 mins into the clip.

This comes after the latest series of "the Sex Education Show" on Channel 4, in which the presenter Anna Richardson started a new campaign: "stop pimping our kids!" For more info, click here.  The problem is that many sex educators on Twitter (@DrPetra & SexEdUKation being a couple of them) were a bit cross about Anna Richardson's assumption that parents would buy these "sexualised" clothes or that these clothes, on an 8 year old girl were "sexualised" at all; also has it really got worse, were songs not just as explicit in the 70s?  Let us know what you think (anonymously of course) here.

The other bit of controversy in the news regarding sexual health is that Life, a pro-life/anti-choice (depending on your particular point of view) charity that "care for mothers", has been given a place on the new government advisory panel for Sexual Health, read the guardian article here; lots of Sex Educators (and an opposition MP) have been saying that this will limit the advisory's ability to have a balanced view, as they will be advising on Sex Ed also (which may please Nadine Dorries).  However, if Brook is also on the panel, is that not balanced enough? Some people are definitely saying no...Let us know what you think via our Twitter page (which I'm trying to bump up to 200 followers..!) to get in on the discussion (argument?)

Abortion is, however, definitely a controversial discussion point , which is why we're looking at redesigning our young people's page to contain more information & advice on this emotive topic.  In the meantime, checkout Education For Choice, and our pregnancy page.  And I know it sounds really obvious, but the only way to avoid unintended pregnancy is to use contraception; which everyone can get for free in the UK!  For condoms in Suffolk, click here.