Sex wars: Conflict in, and reform of, sex education in maintained secondary schools

Abstract

The Education Act 1993 made the provision of sex education compulsory in all maintained secondary schools for the first time. Additionally, parents were given an unconditional right to withdraw their child from sex education lessons. Given the current concerns about the sexual lifestyle of the young in the UK, highlighted by the White Paper; The Health of the Nation, this article examines the legislative changes to ask whether they are in the best interests of the child and the public. The emphasis which the Act places on parental rights' a recurrent feature of education law, is examined, as is the conjlict which this creates with other aspects of child law - the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Children Act and caselaw. The thorny question teachers providing advice and guidance on sexual matters to individual pupils in school' while not raised directly by the 1993 Act' is emphasized by the DfE Circular 5/1994. We suggest that the Circular offers misleading advice to schools which is likely to act against the interests of the child. Reform is advocated along the lines of the Children Act 'welfare check list'

Key Words:

• sex education
• secondary schools
• Education Act 1993 section 241: The Health of the Nation White Paper
• parental rights
• child's welfare