Schools in England will be told by the government not to teach children about progressive theories on so-called “gender identity” and sex education in general to children under the age of nine.
Fresh guidance from the government will inform schools that they should not teach children that they can change their gender identity and that if asked, should only provide children with “biological” information about sex. Schools will also be required to inform children that they cannot legally change their gender until after they are 18. Meanwhile, teachers will be told that they should refrain from engaging in “explicit” conversations about sex until the age of 13, The Times reports.
The guidance, which will be published on Thursday, will also say that teachers should, if asked about the topic, inform children that “gender ideology” is contested, according to the BBC.
A report last year from the New Social Covenant Unit think tank established by Tory MP Miriam Cates found that young school children were being taught radical theories such as “gender fluidity” in lessons inspired by the likes of controversial LGBTQ charity Stonewall, among others. The report also found that children were also being taught about the positives of “rough” sex and how to masturbate.
Meanwhile, a Policy Exchange study found that some schools were teaching children that there were as many as 16 “sexual and gender identities”, such as “demisexual”, “genderqueer”, “homoromantic”, “pansexual”, and “questioning genderfluid”.
The report found that more than 50 per cent of English schools were using materials provided by third-party “providers”, including woke organisations such as “The Proud Trust” and the “Rainbow Flag Award”.
The new guidance will also tell schools to refrain from using such third-party materials, such as the infamous “Genderbread Person” cartoon, whose creator claimed, “that children’s innate identities are based on heavily regressive and somewhat sexualised gender stereotypes.”
A separate survey from the Policy Exchange think tank found that four in ten secondary schools in England were allowing children to change their gender without informing their parents. This prompted the government to issue guidance last month, demanding that schools inform parents if their child is displaying signs of transgenderism.
However, despite the numerous examples of schools pushing progressive ideology surrounding sex and gender to children, left-wing teachers’ organisations attempted to claim on Wednesday that the latest government guidance was motivated by politics.
Speaking to the BBC, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders and head teacher of a school in Rotherham, Pepe Di’Iasio accused the government of using schoolchildren “as a political football”.
“All head teachers have to assess their curriculum and move their curriculum in order to cope with whatever might be the issue of the day,” he said. “Whilst we welcome a chance to look at this, we also need the flexibility to respond to whatever those particular needs are.”
Di’Iasio added that teachers “want well-informed and evidence-based decisions”, not “politicised” guidance from the government.
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the NAHT school leaders union, said: “If what has been leaked is accurate, the government must provide the evidence which unequivocally shows that such age limits will improve the support, protection and safeguarding of children and young people.”