31 October 2013

Sex Education For Children As Young As Five

Family First NZ is concerned that Family Planning is promoting the need for ‘sexuality education’ to be targeted at children as young as five years old, but says that they should butt out of primary and intermediate schools and should allow parents to educate their own children.

At the Family Planning conference currently being held in Wellington, one of the sessions on Friday is Health Promotion and Sexuality Education with the specific topic of “Let's start at the beginning! Sexuality Education for Year 1-4 students.”

“This is effectively 5-8 year old children. Parents should be horrified at the prospect of groups like Family planning undermining the role and values of parents with resources which fail to take into account the emotional and physical development of each child and the values of the family,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“Parents know their children the best and should determine the best timing and most appropriate way to tackle topics such as keeping themselves safe and ‘where do babies come from.” A valueless ‘one size fits all’ approach is far too simplistic and can even be harmful.”

“The last thing parents want and children need is a curriculum where children learn that they’re sexual from birth, the harms of gender stereotypes, that the proper time for sexual activity is when they feel ready, and that they have rights to pleasure, birth control, and abortion,” says Mr McCoskrie.

“Studies show that the biggest protective factors for coping with puberty and sexual involvement are married parents, family values, parental supervision, and parental expectations for behavior. What happens at home is the greatest determinant of the outcomes for the young person.”

“Schools have become ‘one-stop shops’ for raising our children and dealing with every social issue. It’s time we empowered parents to fulfill this important role of preparing their own children. Parents can feel overawed by this issue and the need for ‘the sex talk’ so resources should be put into giving them the confidence to educate their children,” says Mr McCoskrie.

“There seems to be a basic and ironic assumption that parents know nothing about sex and that only FPA and teachers do. This is a myth and should be rejected by both parents and politicians who fund these groups.”

ENDS

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