Sex education at school

Committees decide the content of sex education and at what age it is delivered. They have no control over how it is delivered, or received.

Success is determined by measuring failure - rates of teen pregnancy and rates of sexually transmitted diseases.

Figures aren't easy to find.  The few that are available show that UK teen pregnancy rates are five times higher than in Holland, while the USA has the highest rates in the developed world.

Is this what you would call “success”?

A common response to the lack of success of school sex education is to provide more detail to children at an earlier age.

That's an option, but misses the point entirely - learning about sex and sexual behaviour in a classroom cannot compete with one-to-one mentoring with parents or a trusted adult. 

Without mentoring, kids search for their own answers and not all of the answers are the right ones.

Parents need to take responsibility and discuss sex, as and when the subject arises.  Discussions naturally mature with kids' sexual development and helps ensure their sexual wellbeing.

Alternatively, the Incredible Human Life series will build confidence, with its matter-of-fact information.

(The relatively low teen pregnancy rates in Holland are very interesting. Kids get sex education at school the same as elsewhere, but a socially mature attitude to sex allows parents and kids to talk about it sensibly, helping shape expectations and behaviours.)