Pupils deserve great sexpectations, says Valentine’s Day campaign

Make this the last Valentine’s Day when pupils are without compulsory sex and relationships education, urges the Women’s Equality Party
14th February 2017, 5:13pm

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Pupils deserve great sexpectations, says Valentine’s Day campaign

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/pupils-deserve-great-sexpectations-says-valentines-day-campaign
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Roses are red,
Porn films are blue.
Without school sex ed,
They’ll just have to do.

The Women’s Equality Party, however, is determined that pupils deserve better than learning about sex through online pornography and back-of-the-bikesheds gossip.

In a Twitter campaign using the hashtag #sexpectations, the party has pledged to try to make today the last Valentine’s Day that pupils spend without compulsory sex and relationships education.

 

Let’s make this #valentines the last that young people have to navigate without proper sex and relationships education #sexpectations

- WomensEqualityUK (@WEP_UK) 14 February 2017

 

Immediately, Twitter users began responding with stories about their own, less-than-adequate school sex-education lessons.  

Some bemoaned the lack of content in these lessons:

 

@WEP_UK At my school contraception was not discussed at all. Unless you count the rhythm method. Got my SRE from magazines. #sexpectations

- Imogen (@Imy_85) 14 February 2017

 

Others found that it was the content of the lessons that was the problem:

 

@WEP_UK #sexpectations I wish I HADN’T been told in PSHE to decline sex I shd “say no 3 times then go and make a cup of tea” #wtf #seriously

- dropkickfreddy (@dropkickfreddy) 14 February 2017

 

Often, what was not taught in school was learned elsewhere:

 

Majority was learnt from sitcoms &many yrs trying to find the right contraceptive b/c I didnt know options or the sideaffects #sexpectations

- Candice Basson (@Andi_Basson) 14 February 2017

 

This tended to result in misunderstanding and misapprehension:

 

Memories of sex ed: we were convinced that any kind of physical contact with a boy would end in pregnancy & disease #SREnow #sexpectations

- Rebecca Mulvaney (@beccavane) 14 February 2017

 

The #sexpectations campaign follows on from the news last week that sex and relationships education could become compulsory in all secondary schools.

‘A step in the right direction’

A group of 23 Conservative MPs is backing a change to the law, which would ensure that pupils would be taught about consent, sexting and how to avoid being groomed and exploited online.

At the moment, only maintained secondaries are required to teach children about sex. Academies and free schools, which are not under local authority control, do not need to follow the national curriculum, and therefore to deliver sex education.   

MPs are expected to vote on the amendment this month. Neil Carmichael, Conservative MP and chair of the Commons Education Select Committee, said that the MPs’ call for a change in the law was “a significant step in the right direction.”

He added: “I think there is quite a lot of support and we are heading in the right direction. But we now need to see how many Labour MPs will join us.”

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