Linda Blair, a clinical psychologist, said educating older children and teenagers about sex had to be a process of negotiation. “We do not know what is right and wrong; right and wrong is relative . . .” she said.
-- From "Parents told: avoid morality in sex lessons" by Jack Grimston, The Sunday Times [London] 2/22/09
Parents should avoid trying to convince their teenage children of the difference between right and wrong when talking to them about sex, a new [U.K.] government leaflet is to advise.
Instead, any discussion of values should be kept “light” to encourage teenagers to form their own views, according to the brochure, which one critic has called “amoral”.
Talking to Your Teenager About Sex and Relationships will be distributed in pharmacies from next month as part of an initiative led by Beverley Hughes, the children’s minister.
It advises: “Discussing your values with your teenagers will help them to form their own. Remember, though, that trying to convince them of what’s right and wrong may discourage them from being open.”
The leaflet provides technical information on different forms of contraception, from condoms to implants, and will reignite the row over the government’s “value-free” approach to sex education.
Simon Calvert, deputy director of the Christian Institute, attacked the leaflet, saying: “The idea that the government is telling families not to pass on their values is outrageous.
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