Why Sex Education Matters
At present, sex education is not taught in thousands of schools across the United Kingdom. Where it is taught, it is often lacking in effectiveness and is particularly unrewarding for students within the LGBT+ community. In order for young people to be as safe, healthy and happy as they can be, this needs to change.

In March 2017, the government carried out long-overdue amendments to the Children and Social Work Bill which will make it compulsory for all secondary schools in England to teach relationships and sex education. Currently, only local-authority run secondary schools are guaranteed to offer sex and relationships education. Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is only mandatory at independent schools. There is a clear lack of opportunities which will prepare students for real-life future situations beyond their careers, particularly education in regards to relationships and sexual activity.
In 2015, the Sex Education Forum carried out a survey of over 2,000 young people aged 11 to 25, concluding that their safety may be at risk due to inconsistent sex and relationship education. The survey found that many young people did not receive education about a range of relevant topics, including sexual consent, sexual abuse and genital mutilation. Out of the young people asked, 50 per cent reported they did not learn how to get help if they were abused, 53 per cent did not learn how to recognise grooming for sexual exploitation, and 34 per cent said they learned nothing about sexual consent at school.

In recent years, pornography has become more mainstream and easy to access, with 28,258 users watching porn on the internet every second. Research carried out by the National Union of Students showed that 60 per cent of the 2,500 students surveyed had watched porn to gather information about sex and behaviour with a sexual partner. For young people, porn has become the default source of sex education. Although it has a plethora of benefits, particularly when it comes to youths exploring what they may be interested in, this heavy reliance on pornography has its own set of damaging consequences.
First and foremost, it is very easy to become addicted to porn because it accesses a fundamental and enjoyable natural drive. This addiction can interfere with normal daily behaviour or responsibilities, and is also associated with decreased grey matter in regions of the brain linked to reduced responsiveness to erotic still photos. Pornography can also potentially formulate unrealistic expectations about both sexual activity and the human body. The toned, sexually uninhibited men and women in pornographic films are not necessarily representative of reality, impacting the self-esteem of viewers. In addition, there is often a lack of clear consent and protection, giving way to misled ideas about safe and healthy sex.
The introduction of mandatory sex education will not eradicate the viewing of pornography by young people, nor does it necessarily need to. Rather, the ability of teenagers to distinguish between the media’s depictions of the body and sex and real life should be strengthened by incorporating more discussion of sexual activity and pornography into the school curriculum. Young people who do become exposed to porn should develop the necessary skills to view it constructively and become conscientious, critical consumers of pornographic media.
One of the most significant weaknesses of the current curriculum is that it reinforces a heavily restrictive framework for understanding the complexity of human sexuality, causing LGBT+ students to feel isolated, confused and abnormal. A major survey of 900 young people, published by the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust in July 2016, found that 95 per cent of young people didn’t learn about LGBT sex and relationships during their time at school. A further 97 per cent reported that they were taught nothing about gender expression and identity.
When announcing the changes to be made to sex education in March this year, Education Secretary Justine Greening gave no mention of LGBT+ issues. According to the new proposals, schools will have flexibility over how they deliver subjects. This lack of rigidity could potentially result in some schools omitting the LGBT+ aspects of sex and relationship education.

As stated by David Geary of Pride in London, “healthy sex and relationship education cannot be wholly effective until it helps every pupil in the classroom.” By ignoring the existence of the LGBT+ students and not providing adequate sex education for those whose interests lie beyond the heteronormative expectations, “the government is helping to cement stigma, self-doubt, confusion and bullying.”
LGBT+ people and issues should be infused throughout sex education, and heterosexuality should not be assumed within definitions of sexual activities or discussions of romantic relationships. The new curriculum should challenge the gender binary and pay more than token attention to transgender people and concerns. It should also avoid relegating LGBT+ issues to “special topics” and instead include discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity throughout the curriculum.
Education is one of the most powerful tools that society has to eliminate ignorance and combat divisions head on. Young people should feel adequately prepared for their futures and in order to do this, education must be adapted and improved. Teaching on real-life scenarios like sex and relationships should be broad, encompassing and LGBT+ inclusive, rather than placing a restrictive focus on the biological interaction between a male and female as the current curriculum does. Mandatory sex education is long overdue; when it is put in place it must be beneficial to all students, regardless of their identities.

