New guidance/old problems: recent developments in sex education

Abstract

Sex education is a controversial area of public policy and over the last 20 years it has also been highly politicized. The election of the Labour government in 1997 raised the hopes of children's rights and health campaigners for a move away from the traditional moralistic approach adopted by the previous administration in favour of a more progressive and pragmatic approach. To date the government has attempted, unsuccessfully, to repeal Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, has amended the statutory framework for sex education in the Learning and Skills Act 2000 and in July 2000 issued new guidance on sex and relationship education. This article examines how these recent developments attempt to reconcile parental and local control with the need for a more uniform provision and how they attempt to pragmatically acknowledge the sexual activity of young people and at the same time deny young people autonomy and uphold the norm of children as ideally non-sexual.

Keywords:

• Sex Education
• Childhood
• Child Sexuality
• Teenage Pregnancy