In a conversation with one of my friends six months ago about sex, I was shocked to find out how little she knew. I shouldn’t have been so shocked. Had I just accepted the knowledge our school gave us, I would have been in the same position. Sex education at my school consisted of the basic biology of reproduction and a PowerPoint containing photos of STD symptoms to put the fear of God in us. But this isn’t just about the school I went to. It is a symptom of a much larger deficit in the UK’s sex education. So here are four ways the UK has failed us when it comes to sex education:
Contraception
We have come a long way since the contraception of the 1960s, so why is it that schools only teach about male condoms and the pill? There is a vast array of contraception available nowadays. If you didn’t know that female condoms exist and that the pill doesn’t protect you from STDs, it might be time to brush up on the latest advancements. There’s a pretty comprehensive list on the NHS website.
Consent
What better way to teach consent than to compare sex to drinking tea? That video is a very good lesson on consent, but schools do a very poor job of teaching anything else. Myths that physical arousal equals consent or that consent cannot be retracted are still prevalent today. Acronyms such as FRIES and CRISP are a good place to start in order to unlearn some of the myths around consent.
LGBTQ+
Of course, schools just assume that everyone is straight, and therefore, sex education for LGBTQ+ students is non-existent. There’s also a stunning lack of resources on the internet too.
Speaking of the internet…
I remember being in year 6 and hearing that boys in my year had been discussing videos of naked women on the internet. Now, that seems young, and it is, but with unrestricted internet access, children are being exposed to these things at an alarmingly young age. Furthermore, a lot of the stuff accessible for free on the internet is violent, normalising violence in sex and relationships. Schools do very little to combat this, and people grow up thinking this is normal.
To conclude, do your research, find reputable resources and please do not believe everything you see on the internet.