Poll: Almost 9 out of 10 parents support sex education for all schools
A YouGov poll for Young people’s charity Brook has found an overwhelming majority of parents believe Sex & Relationships Education (SRE) should be taught in all schools.
In a survey of 4,150 adults of which 1,085 were parents of children aged 18 or under, 88% said they backed the measure.
Chief Executive of Brook, Simon Blake OBE, said: “This poll adds to the overwhelming support for SRE to be taught in all schools. It comes in the same week that the Chair of the Education Select Committee criticised schools for not doing enough to teach about cyberbullying and held an inquiry into PSHE and SRE where cyberbullying would be addressed.
“Talk is great, but David Cameron said we must do better nearly a year ago but we have seen too little action from government.”
This week, Prime Minister David Cameron said all schools should teach SRE.
The PM was asked the question by Tory MP for Tewkesbury Laurence Robertson during Wednesday’s PMQs. The MP raised the matter on behalf of the Hollie Gazzard Trust, set up in memory of murdered teenager Hollie Gazzard. The Trust is campaigning for improved sex education, including teaching about how to deal with domestic abuse.
There have been various campaigns to have a more comprehensive and LGBT-inclusive curriculum for sex and relationships education (SRE) in schools.
The Lib Dems have signalled support for the bill.
Labour has already promised to make SRE statutory if it wins the 2015 general election.
Last month, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan hinted that she could be moving towards supporting statutory PSHE – however she is yet to confirm her intentions.
