Four-year-olds 'should be given compulsory sex education'

Children as young as four should be given compulsory sex education lessons, according to three charities advising the government on how to cut teenage abortion rates. Under the news plans children would be taught the names of body parts and basic ideas about different relationships. Brook, the fpa (formerly the Family Planning Association) and the Sex Education Forum said the basic sex education children currently receive in science classes is inadequate. They claim a "gradual education" from a young age will help stop children rushing into sex, and reduce abortion rates and sexually transmitted infections when they reach adolescence. Simon Blake, chief executive of Brook, said: "Many young people are having sex because they want to find out what it is, because they were drunk or because their mates were. That's just not good... [read full story]