Sex education- what’s the problem?

Sex education’s a live issue today- right around the world.
A report from Africa says many kids complain that what they’re taught about sex is not much use. They say that it’s all too moralistic - nothing to do with life in the real world. And they fear their ignorance puts them at greater risk of HIV/ AIDS.

In many parts of the world, sex education is a very touchy subject. But what’s the problem? Should we just get on with making sure kids know what they need to know, for their own safety?

In the UK, the government’s just announced all kids in state schools will have sex education starting, from the age of five. It’s caused outrage in some quarters.

So what do you think kids and young people be told about sex? And who should tell them? Their parents or their teachers? If it’s against your principles, should you able to prevent your child getting sex education?

In the US, Sarah Palin- despite the pregnancy of her own daughter- is against sex education and favours an abstinence-only approach.

In some US abstinence programmes, teachers can only tell kids about contraception if they talk about its defects and failure-rate. The US has spent $1.5 billion on abstinence education in the past 25 years but many say there’s no proof it works. Now there’s a new bill before Congress that would mean wider ranging sex-education would be funded.

Good sound common-sense? Or are we forcing sex education on people when they’re too young to understand what it’s all about?

By markhalliley