Five-year-olds to be given sex education

Tuesday, 10 March 2009 12:00 AM

By politics.co.uk stafff

Sex education will be given to children as young as five in some schools in a bid to lower the teenage pregnancy rate.

Schools in Leicestershire have reportedly introduced the plan to reduce the age for compulsory sex education from 11 to five as a response to the story of the 13-year-old dad Alfie Patten.

The changes had been due to take place around the county by September 2010 but the Press Association news agency reports as many as 25 schools brought forward the changes after Alfie's story became headline news last month when his teenage girlfriend gave birth.

Linda Jagger, a head-teacher in Leicester, told the Daily Mail newspaper her school had implemented the change in light of the story.

"Most people who heard about the 13-year-old dad had some serious qualms about children's understanding of sex-education and how it's being taught," she told the newspaper.

"Alfie is like lots of the teenage pregnancies in Leicester which is the reason why we introduced the scheme early."

The story sparked considerable political debate last month with Conservative leader David Cameron expressing concerns it raised "worrying" questions about the state of modern society.

Tags:
• education
,
• pre school