Children are being taught about sex when “they’ve only just learnt to write their own names,” a parent at a school in Fife has said.
She was responding to Ladybank Primary School near Cupar, Scotland, teaching children as young as 6 about sexual organs.
Parents have met with the school about their concerns, but Fife Council is defending the lessons.
The unnamed parent explained: “We all went down to the school after we got the timetables because we couldn’t believe what they want to teach our kids. It’s jaw-dropping.”
“Kids are curious and they’re basically telling them how to do grown up stuff at a ridiculously young age,” she added.
The move has reportedly been introduced because of high teenage pregnancy rates, but the parent said the problem is not helped by explicit lessons at such a young age.
“They’re telling our kids how to have sex when they’ve only just learnt to write their own names. It’s absolutely shocking,” the parent said.
She commented: “We were told we can opt our kids out if we want to but the ‘subject areas’ would be touched on in other subjects and we couldn’t pull the kids out every time.”
However, Carrie Lindsay, an area education officer with the local council, said: “All lessons in our schools are taught at an appropriate level for the age and ability of the child.
“By introducing such discussions in a very simple, upfront, non-sensational way the subject just becomes part of the everyday discussions in the classroom.”
Last year it was revealed that a school in Fife was showing posters advertising a local sexual health clinic which pupils could visit during their lunch break.
The news came as it emerged that 12 schools in Lothian and Dumfries and Galloway were offering students tests for chlamydia and gonorrhea during after-school and lunchtime clinics.
Norman Wells, director of the Family Education Trust, criticized testing for sexually transmitted diseases at school, saying it kept parents “in the dark.”
