We believe that every young person in Wales should be given the information they need to lead healthy and responsible sex lives and to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy.
Young people in Britain have the worst sexual health in western Europe and this is partly due to inconsistent and poor quality Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) in many schools.
Currently, while the Assembly have produced excellent guidance on how Sex and Relationships Education should be taught, individual schools decide the extent of the SRE they provide. This makes quality variable and subject to the personal views and prejudices of staff and governors. It can also put undue pressure on staff to defend their teaching decisions to parents, because they have little central support to fall back on. SRE should examine the social implications of sex and relationships, rather than just human biology, in an effort to better equip young people to deal with the realities of their relationships and sex lives.
The Welsh Assembly Government should include SRE in the core curriculum to ensure that the full curriculum is taught, that schools build SRE into their lesson planning and that sufficient classroom time is devoted to the subject. This will help to ensure that all children are equipped for adult life and not left to rely on the rumours and misinformation of the playground.
Email your Assembly Member and ask them to use their influence to make SRE part of the core curriculum.