Give four-year-olds sex education, say charities

Anthea Lipsett Friday July 4, 2008 EducationGuardian.co.uk Two leading sexual health charities are calling for children as young as four to be given compulsory sex education. Brook and the Family Planning Association (FPA) argue that teaching children about sex from a young age would help reduce abortion rates and sexually transmitted infections when they reach adolescence. The charities said children should be taught the names of body parts and about sex and relationships. The Brook chief executive, Simon Blake, is calling for all UK governments to ensure that all children age four upwards receive sex and relationships education in schools. Blake said: "If we get high quality sex and relationships education in every primary and secondary school across the UK, all the evidence shows teenage pregnancy rates will continue to... [read full story]