Sex Education Identity Crisis

In recent years the provision of sex education in schools has been adapting to changing notions in society about human sexuality. The current sex education programme, based on the 'Relationships and Sexuality (RSE) Education Code', is aimed at helping children with relationships and teaching them about respectful behaviour and setting boundaries. However, the introduction of this programme into primary and secondary schools has been met by many parents with a sense of bewilderment - because it underestimates the complexity of the task of supporting a young child's emotional and sexual development and of guiding an adolescent in a way that recognises sexual diversity but does not give undue emphasis to this.

Government policy regarding sex education in schools has gradually widened its remit over the years. First, it became 'Relationships and Sex Education' and then 'Relationships and Sexuality Education'. This gradual infiltration of other highly contentious subjects into sex education is creating a sex education identity crisis which makes it difficult for teachers to have confidence in what they are now required to do.

The Welsh government's new programme for sex education in primary and secondary schools is the subject of a legal challenge by parents. It seems that sex education is now less based on a sound understanding of normal growth and development and more influenced by thinking that has taken sexual identity into some bizarre places and promoted ideas about identity formation based on a new kind of narcissism. Parents are worried that the new teaching programme has been infiltrated by this dogma and their children will find this disturbing. They apparently believe that the task of helping children with their sexual development and giving them the confidence to feel at ease with their own unique, physical characteristics is something that is better done by parents than by teachers.

Children are now growing up in a society where it is easy for them to access information about sex and relationships. However, concerns about the effect of social media on some children, particularly those who feel anxious in the real world and are over-concerned with their online identities, are not unreasonable. While the new programme for sex education in schools may be trying to deal with these concerns its approach is actually deeply flawed.

Essentially, there is a basic flaw in the notion that formal education can teach children and young people about relationships and sexuality. The values underpinning the current framework for sex education has apparently come from middle class people, in professional and managerial positions, who claim to possess moral superiority and wisdom and think formal education should be given to children and young people to ensure they develop the tolerant attitudes that they assert. Their own vales and principles are often different from those of many ordinary working class people - who bring commonsense thinking to their understanding of sexuality and gender identity and are more relaxed about showing their opposition to ideas that challenge their beliefs about the pleasure that can be found in emotional and physical intimacy.

The notion that teachers should give children guidance about their developing sexuality denies the complexity of the emotional problems that some children and young people struggle with. My thinking about this is informed by psychoanalytic theory and Freudian insights which recognise that experiences during the first five years of life invariably have a profound effect on the emerging personality and eventually on sexual orientation in adult life. These ideas offer us a deeper understanding of personal growth and development and the complexity of those aspects of our personality concerned with sexuality.

Those who designed this programme obviously have little understanding of the psyche and the presence of powerful inner conflicts in some individuals who may seem normal to the outside world. Obviously, our sexual development during childhood and adolescence plays a crucial part in how we form a personal identity that is based on the particular qualities we are born with and feels authentic. This is an ongoing process that continues into adulthood as people explore different kinds of relationships and learn from their experiences. However, the apparently irrational nature of some young people's behaviour and relationships can make it difficult for them to find the intimacy and love that they really want and this may show the need for an approach to their difficulties that takes account of hidden, unresolved conflicts.

It is unclear whether the government will have the sense to introduce a radically different approach to sex education for children that is better suited to their needs. However, there is plenty of room for improvement in the way that teachers currently carry this out. It requires a clearer focus on giving young people the necessary information to help them understand the changes that are taking place in their bodies and enabling them to have the confidence to reject any unwelcome sexual attention. Although it is generally assumed that parents should provide their children with this kind of information and support as they grow up it is recognised that some parents may find this aspect of parenting difficult. The school should only be expected to step in to ensure that all children have the basic information they need and the confidence to act appropriately in situations where they may be vulnerable.

Hilary Searing

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