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.

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:

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

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

This tended to result in misunderstanding and misapprehension:

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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