Parliament hears of Christian MP's concerns

This post was first written by Michael Ridout of CViE and is republished with kind permission. Their original version can be found here

Miriam Cates is a Christian and a qualified science teacher from Yorkshire.

She is also an MP, willing to bring up the tricky topic of Sex and relationships education in a debate she secured in Parliament.

The debate lasted an hour and a half and the useful contributions made in this time highlighted the seriousness of the way the delivery of RSE/RSHE is developing, particularly in England.

The debate raised concerns around a number of issues and these can be summarised as:

• The lack of clarity and effectiveness of the RSHE statutory guidelines on the teaching of relationships and sex education and the need for this to be addressed.

• The ‘age appropriateness’ of materials used in teaching RSE and that there is no control over the content of those producing materials for use in schools. Often these materials are promoting an ideological viewpoint, presented in a context of seemingly frequent and unfettered access for outside agencies. The typically uncritical presentations fail, in their delivery, to sensitively consider the family values and cultural backgrounds of the children and young people in attendance.

• The lack of recognition of the role of parents in the education of their children particularly in the sensitive area of sex and relationship teaching.

• The way gender identity has come to the fore and its active promotion within some schools together with the confusion that this has caused to both young and older children. Mention was made in the debate of how gender identity has also impacted on children with learning disabilities and autism.

• The involvement of parents in the consultation and development of sex and relationship education policies in schools.

• The access parents have to materials being used in schools and how this is sometimes precluded for ‘commercial’ reasons.

• The frustration experienced by parents and raising matters in schools

• The unpreparedness of schools and teachers in delivering RSHE together with the availability of suitability training and support materials.

• The need for suitable accredited and regulated materials and training of subject specialists and for RSE/RSHE to be treated with the same rigour as would mainline subjects of science and geography.

We have appended extracts from Miriam Cates’s opening speech and closing comments in the debate to provide a ‘flavour’ of what was said and the points made. We would encourage parents, teachers, governors and those interest in the education of children and young people to view the debate which can be found by clicking here. A copy of the transcript published by Hansard can be found by clicking here.

The debate was both illuminating and alarming whilst highlighting numerous concerns that CViE and many others have expressed regarding the teaching of relationships and sex education both at primary and secondary level.

Miriam Cates opened her speech with the following words,

“Let me start with a health warning: my speech is not suitable for children. That is sadly ironic, given that all of the extreme and inappropriate material I am about to share has already been shared with children in our schools”.

The poignancy of this remark is illustrated during the debate by the graphic nature of the materials available for use in schools. This also leads to the questions “do parents really know what children are being taught in relationships and sex education, where is it being taught within the curriculum and what materials are being used?” The last thing a parent would want for their child is for them to be exposed to danger, yet is there not a need to know what dangers exist so precautionary steps/action can be taken?

Reference was made in the debate to the need to improve the consistency and quality of RSE teaching. On June 10, 2022, the Children’s Commissioner announced that “I am very pleased to have been commissioned by the Education Secretary to look specifically at relationship and sex education (RSE) and to complement the work that the Department for Education (DfE) is doing to improve the consistency and quality of RSE teaching”.

It will be very interesting to see how the Children’s Commissioner undertakes this role and involves families in this process. The announcement, on the Children’s Commissioner’s website, can be found by clicking here.

The RSHE statutory guidance states that the guidance “will be reviewed three years from first required teaching (September 2020) and every three years after that point”. 2023 will be the year for the three-year review and CViE, if the Lord will, would seek to contribute to this review. However, in order to do so, we will be seeking the help of our supporters to share their experiences so that we can provide an informed response when needed.

The Lord grant us a true spirit of prayer for Miriam Cates and others in Parliament who are prepared to speak out against what the minds of children and young people are being exposed to and the damage and harm that this brings.

Extracts from Miriam Cates’s speech

The following extracts from Miriam Cates’s speech have been appended to supplement the points made in this post. We would encourage you, as mentioned, to read the transcript of the speech and proceedings and/or watch the video recording:

“Despite its good intentions, the new RSE framework has opened the floodgates to a whole host of external providers who offer sex education materials to schools. Now, children across the country are being exposed to a plethora of deeply inappropriate, wildly inaccurate, sexually explicit and damaging materials in the name of sex education. The introduction of graphic or extreme sexual material in sex education lessons also reinforces the porn culture that is damaging our children in such a devastating way. Of course it is not the fault of schools that half of all 14-year-olds have seen pornography online – much of it violent and degrading – but some RSE lessons are actively contributing to the sexualisation and adultification of children.”

“Even when materials are not extreme, we must still be careful not to sexualise children prematurely. I spoke to a mother who told me how her 11-year-old son had been shown a PowerPoint presentation in a lesson on sexuality. It was setting out characteristics and behaviours and asking children to read through the lists and decide whether they were straight, gay or bisexual. Pre-pubescent 11-year-olds are not straight, gay or bisexual they are children.”

“Gender theory is even being taught to our very youngest children. Pop‘ n‘ Olly tells children that gender is male, female, both or neither.”

“It is therefore the duty of those responsible for raising children – particularly parents and teachers – to tell them the truth. Those who teach a child that there are 64 different genders, that they may actually be a different gender to their birth sex, or that they may have been born in the wrong body, are not telling the truth. It is a tragedy that the RSE curriculum, which should help children to develop confidence and self-respect, is instead being used to undermine reality and ultimately put children in danger.” 

“However, many teachers just do not have the time to look into the background of every group that provides sex education resources, and when faced with teaching such difficult and sensitive topics, they understandably reach for ready-made materials, without investigating their source.”

“Furthermore, those teachers who are aware of the harms are sometimes afraid to share their concerns. A lot of teachers have written to me about this situation, with one writing:

“I left my job in a Primary School after we were asked to be complicit in the ‘social transitioning’  of a 7 year old boy. This was after Gendered Intelligence came into the school and delivered training.””

“…. In many cases, parents are refused access to the teaching materials being used by their children in school. This was highlighted by the case of Clare Page …. (who) complained about sex education lessons that were being taught in her child’s school by …. The School of Sexuality Education……. Mrs Page’s daughter’s school refused to allow the family to have a copy of the material provided in lessons, saying it was commercially sensitive.”

“Schools are in loco parentis. Their authority to teach children comes not from the state and not from the teaching unions, but from parents. Parents should have full access to the RSE materials being used by their children. We have created this safeguarding disaster and we will have to find the courage to deal with it for the sake of our children.”

“Parents do not know where to turn, and many I have spoken to tell me how they complain to schools and get nowhere. ….The complaints system is circular and schools are left to mark their own homework”.