The Sex Education Show part two

I’m writing this in front of The Jeremy Kyle show. As per usual, there is wrangling over who’s the father, DNA testing and accusations flying around the room. People shagging other people indiscriminately and without contraception or feeling.

And I hear from schools, teachers, politicians and religious groups all the time that PSHE and in particular Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) is a waste of time on the school curriculum. Right.

Congratulations to Channel Four then for The Sex Education Show. Show number two last night was very busy. There were the usual squirming, red-faced teenagers being shown real naked bodies. Surprise! They don’t look like they do in that porn you download. Human bodies are a bit wonky and lumpy and hairy and chances are you’ll be sharing a bed with one of them before you know it.

It was interesting to see the programme dealing with arousal, a topic that is a part of very few SRE programmes deal with. There was also information on what the law says about sex. That surprised the students, especially the information about ‘sexting.’

Parents and students were brought together for the excruciating sex talk. Well done to the parents for being frank and helpful but I wonder why they didn’t start talking to their kids before now. I always advise parents that sex and relationships should be an on-going topic of discussion, not a one off when the kids are well past puberty.

All this and Anna Richardson and her scary hair bellowing at WHSmith about putting lads’ mags on lower shelves where small children can see them. I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: why is it ok to have magazines full of pneumatic soap stars and models but we get our knickers in a twist when it comes to talking to children about real sex and real relationships? Newspapers work themselves up into a frenzy  with salacious headlines , politicians whinge about teenage pregnancy and soaring STI rates but do nothing about them and religious groups tell us that sex is something that parents should talk to their children about. Absolutely, yes they should. But do they? All of them? With the guidance and support they need?

I was exhausted after watching last night’s episode which may have something to do with the fact that I was at twisting my creaking joints into unnatural positions at yoga but may be more to do with the programme being rather crammed. It feels like the researchers wanted to cover too much but were only given three programmes.

Being The Sex Education Show, it covered just sex but I’d love to see Channel Four coming up with a relationships programme. But I guess that’s a hope too far. Meanwhile on Jeremy Kyle it’s,  ‘You had a one night stand at a party- prove your baby’s mine.’

Sigh.

Respect and Responsibility

Not a hitherto undiscovered Jane Austen oeuvre sadly, but a bright new future for us dribbling peasants. Last week Michael Gove promised that head teachers would have greater responsibility for their pupils outside schools. I imagine that some heads will be rubbing their hands together in glee and some will be sighing deeply at the thought of more things to do and of course Cameron’s Big Society is all based on communal responsibility.

 Well I’m looking forward to everyone taking more responsibility and when the time comes I promise to do my bit as we’re very good at blaming each other for our woes.

 There’s an activity I sometimes do with teachers based on a Have I Got News For You round, or perhaps it should be called the Blame Game. I give them some newspaper headlines with missing words and ask them to guess what goes in the gap. The point is to think about what people read over their cornflakes and how this might affect their opinions.

 In the interest of fairness, I try to include headlines from the major daily papers. These ones are all about children’s health and wellbeing. Have a go; I’ll start you off with an easy one. Answers at the bottom of the page.

Third of children are too _______
Express

Child ________ health problems ‘to double’
Telegraph
_________ to be made responsible for curbing teen pregnancy and obesity
Daily Mail

Blinkered _______ fuel childhood obesity, says report
The Guardian

School note for parents who give children _______ _______ ______
Times

_______ classes for every pupil at 15
The Sun

And finally my favourite and no, the answer is not ‘Zac Ephron’ as one wit wrote on a training course. 

____  _______ blamed for teen pregnancy
Daily Mail

answers in order: fat, mental, schools, parents, unhealthy packed lunches, sex, rap music. Did you get all the answers?