Saturday, August 4, 2012

Porn

What is it with the education industry in the UK that they try to involve themselves ever more in the minutiae of how people 'should' think 'should' behave and 'should' live their lives, even down to matters of  sex and primary school kids.
Mail.
A primary school has shown its young pupils a sex education video which was deemed so steamy it was removed from sale after a government minister intervened.
The Living and Growing DVD - branded 'cartoon porn' - has caused uproar around the UK for its graphic sex scenes using cartoon couples.
In one scene a naked cartoon couple chase each other around a bedroom with a feather before having sex, and include an animated scene of ejaculation.
The films include a section aimed at children as young as five, asking them to name the body parts on a drawing of a naked man and woman.
It has received such strong criticism from parents and even government minister Nick Gibbs that the Channel 4-produced DVD was removed from sale.
Now I have no objection to sex education, however I'm a great believer of keeping kids as kids for as long as possible as well. Why Westbury Leigh Primary School in Wiltshire, should decide to show a film about sex to children from as young as four up to the age of twelve is beyond me, I simply don't see any need at all for this, it's not like the kids should even be 'practising' anything they see in the dvd as it is. From what I can tell, the school decided to show it to ten year olds, some six years before they are even legally allowed to indulge in sex (yes I know it goes on but we shouldn't encourage law breaking) it's not even as if the film is some sort of 'Stranger Danger' type of warning either.
Certainly a good grasp of biology with regards to kids changing to adults will help, but we shouldn't be telling them just how the actual mechanic work until say at least the entire class is fourteen and approaching the stage where they should really know. Not that I'd expect it to come as a surprise to a lot of fourteen year olds, it's amazing what you can find on the internet, however I still believe that kids should remain kids for as long as possible and if that means keeping them out of the hands of those who want to make them sexually aware from a very young age then I believe it's a price worth paying.
It may not be possible to go back (as yet) to an age of innocence, but attempts like this to sexualise our kids do not help at all.

3 annotations:

D-Rex said...

Sounds like it's more a case of grooming children than educating them

StourbridgeRantBoy said...

Agreed, when does 'education' end and 'grooming' begin? Teachers' probably a Scout leader as well...

Laurie -

English Pensioner said...

With all other subjects at school, children are urged to try out what they have learned.
Children naturally can't see why this shouldn't apply to what they have learned in sex lessons!