Children as young as eleven are to be given lessons in school on pornography and on what constitutes rape. The classes will be introduced into English schools following the Easter holidays, amidst concerns that teenagers are being pressurised into having sex at a younger age.
Formal guidance has been commissioned by the government to be circulated to schools. It suggests that courses should start “before young people are sexually active, otherwise it is too late”, and advises teachers to dispel “rape myths”, such as suggestions that consent is implicit if a woman is wearing revealing clothing or is “teasing” a man, the Sunday Times has reported.
The plans have the blessing of education secretary Nicky Morgan, who has written “We have to face the fact that many pressures girls face today were unimaginable to my generation and it’s our duty to ensure that our daughters leave school able to navigate the challenges and choices they’ll face in adulthood.”
Morgan, who has a seven year old son, says “mothers at the school gates” regularly complain about the pressures that their daughters come under to have sex in their teenage years. Parents are teachers are concerned about the impact of sexting and revenge porn.
The classes will be added to the syllabus for PSHE (personal, social, health and economic) lessons, and in an attempt to stave off criticism Morgan has said that all materials must be pre-approved. Her department has called on the PSHE Association, which supports and advises teachers, to draft lesson plans.
Suggestions include teaching children that having sex once doesn’t mean that consent has been given subsequently, and that “If consent is not clear, informed, willing and active, it must be assumed consent has not been given.” “Going upstairs” or kissing are also not tacit agreement that intercourse will take place. “ ‘He/she got drunk with me’ is not an excuse for assuming consent.”
In a lesson clearly designed to appeal to younger children, the plans suggest asking pupils “What misconceptions about consent would an alien get if their only evidence was from pornography?”
And teachers are called on to dispel “rape myths”, by inviting children to discuss statements such as “If a woman is raped while drunk she is at least somewhat responsible” and “If a girl is dressed provocatively, she is asking for trouble.” They are also invited to discuss the statement “men are never raped” and gay rape.
The guidance says that lessons should be “grounded in realistic scenarios, but not the personal experiences of either pupils or teachers”. One of the suggested techniques is a “conscience alley”; something more commonly used by actors to explore their characters.
The technique involves two lines of pupils standing facing each other, whilst one walks between them. As he slowly passed between them, he is to recount a fictional drunken sexual encounter he had, whilst the pupils on either side offer advice on how to manage that situation.
Although teachers will be expected to explain the law on underage sex, which treats all sex by under 16 year olds as rape regardless of consent, the guidance states that by the end of the course of eight lessons, pupils will be expected to “ask someone to give their consent without putting them under pressure”. It is not clear whether abstinence is taught as an alternative.
The revelations over the past year of child sexual exploitation (commonly abbreviated to CSE) of young girls by Asian gangs on a grand scale in Rotherham, Oxford and elsewhere has also given impetus to the plans.
Commenting on the proposals, Conservative MP Tim Loughton tweeted “Glad 2 hear sex consent 2 be taught in schools as part PSHE- think some of us were suggesting that 4 yrs ago in tandem with CSE Action Plan”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the lobby group Christian Concern, said: “I think we are potentially alarming children and introducing them to concepts that they may never encounter. Why should we be exposing 11-year-olds to these things?”