School Scraps ‘Explicit’ Sex-Ed DVD After Parent Outrage
A primary school in Sussex has scrapped a sex-education DVD after parents complained about its explicit content.
Governors at Turners Hill Primary School ruled that the video was not in keeping with their ethos following concerns about sexually graphic scenes.
As of September, the video, which has been used for a year, will be replaced with a new discussion-based PowerPoint presentation.
Parents will be invited to see the new material before the students see it and may withdraw their children from the lessons if they wish.
Head teacher of the Church of England school, Oliver Burcombe, supports the governors’ decision. He says policies had been reviewed, and it was decided all materials “should be changed and based more around Christian principles.”
Parents spoken to by a local newspaper welcomed the move, including Lynda Reeves, 45, who said, “I think it was the right decision to make, and I trust the school’s judgment.”
But one school governor says parents created a “hoo-ha” by raising concerns and felt the video was acceptable in the classroom.
A primary school in Croydon recently postponed showing a controversial sex-education DVD after parents complained about explicit content.
One parent said the material, which is part of Channel 4’s Living and Growing series, could be classed as pornography.
And in Dunblane, children aged 6 were shown the Living and Growing DVD, which featured full sexual intercourse during a sex-education lesson.
The school claims it was an honest mistake, but one annoyed mother says the apology was “not good enough.”
