Hundreds of heads and church leaders oppose sex lessons for seven-year-olds

In a letter to The Sunday Telegraph, 640 signatories, including Catholic bishops, parish priests, university professors, councillors and doctors, call for legislation to be dropped which will see children as young as seven taught about sex and relationships.

From September next year, primary school pupils will learn about puberty, sexual intercourse, marriage and the risk of abuse and domestic violence.

Ministers have argued that currently, sex education starts too late and that improved, earlier lessons are needed to counter teenage pregnancy, increasingly explicit storylines in films and television soap operas, as well as exposure to pornography online and through mobile phones.

The Children, Schools and Families Bill, which is at committee stage in the Lords, will introduce compulsory sex education for children from the age of seven.
It will also remove the rights of parents to "opt out" and withdraw their children from lessons, once their children have reached the age of 15.

But the letter in opposition to the Bill claims the plans seek to impose a "particular ideology" and undermine parents' rights to bring up their children in accordance with their own values and culture.
A further 1,500 parents, grandparents, youth workers and members of the public have also signed the letter.
Norman Wells, director of the Family Education Trust, and a lead signatory, said: "There is widespread disquiet among head teachers, school governors and faith leaders about moves to reduce the influence of parents over what is taught in such a sensitive area.

"The Government frequently repeats its mantra that 'parents bring up children in this country, not the government and not schools'.

Yet increasingly parents find themselves sidelined and effectively told they must bring up their children by Government diktat. It is time to stand up to the encroachment of an overbearing state and say enough is enough.
"The Bill is music to the ears of those who have long campaigned for compulsory sex education to advance their agenda to break down traditional moral standards, redefine the family, promote relativism, celebrate homosexuality, and encourage sexual experimentation."

The Government claims parents are in favour of compulsory sex education across the school ages.
It commissioned a Populus poll of 1,791 adults in October last year which found that 81 per cents of parents agreed that every child should attend sex education classes.

However, in the official consultation on the proposals, carried out by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and published in September last year, only 32 per cent agreed that personal, social and health education, of which sex education is part, should be compulsory.

Tony Butterick, the head of Holy Trinity, a church primary, in Woking, Surrey, said: "Children need a childhood. I believe that we are losing opportunities for protecting the age of innocence.

"In many schools we manage to retain it but the Government are now dictating the extent to which we can do that.
"They are trying to solve the ills of society through education. But children are at school to learn and have a positive outlook on life.

"It concerns me that at primary level we should be talking to children about sexuality. Joe Public actually wants children to have a conservative sex education programme."

Updated teaching materials will be issued to schools from September, 12 months before the subject becomes compulsory. Concerns have already been raised about materials used by some schools.

Lisa Bullivant, from Legbourne in Lincolnshire, complained after her seven-year-old daughter's class was shown a graphic cartoon.

The Channel 4 sex education DVD, which is recommended by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, showed a naked couple chasing each other around a bed then having sex, while a voice-over gives a detailed commentary.

Last month, faith schools won a concession when it was confirmed that Roman Catholic, Anglican, Jewish and Muslim schools would still be able to teach sex lessons that reflected their religious character.

This means they can make clear to pupils their opposition to contraception or homosexuality.