The city of Glasgow announced a new comprehensive sex education program yesterday that will begin teaching students as young as four. The program will begin with Primary 1 students and build each year upon previous knowledge, following the students all the way through secondary school. According to the British TimesOnline:
“In the early years, youngsters will learn the names of different parts of the human body and discover how animals reproduce. By P3 — aged about seven — they will ‘know and understand where humans come from.’ In their final year of secondary school, they will be taught about issues around Aids and HIV.”
The deputy leader of Glasgow City Council, Councillor James Coleman reported in the announcement that this is the first comprehensive sex education curriculum designed to span throughout students’ school careers
According to the city, the concerns of students and parents heavily influenced the development of the program, and teachers, parents, and students are all very pleased with the curriculum that has already been piloted in 13 primaries and two secondary schools. The city emphasized in its announcement that the program welcomes and encourages the involvement of parents at every level of the program
However, conservatives in Glasgow are rightly concerned. In a city with higher than average teenage pregnancy and almost half of all new cases of HIV in Scotland, a systematic and impersonal sex education program beginning with students as young as four may not be the most effective approach to encouraging safe sexual practices.