Parent resources

School children may not indulge in active sex lives, but they do think and talk about sex a lot. Schools provide a variety of sex education, although a straightforward account of human copulation and reproduction is not necessarily the most relevant way of finding out about sex – it can confuse rather than clarify. It also crops up in other subjects and classroom discussions, especially in PHSE programmes which explore the context of relationships, health, moral framework etc.

Many parents find it difficult to think of their children as being sexually active (and vice versa) and adolescents can resent what they see as parental interference in their personal lives. However, it is worth braving the mutual embarrassment: while the repercussions of an unplanned pregnancy are as traumatic and lasting as ever, chlamydia is becoming a serious problem in young people and AIDS has made ignorance a far greater danger than it was before.