News

Call for earlier puberty education in schools

PSHE Pupil wellbeing
Schools are not discussing puberty early enough with students, with many girls already starting to have their periods before the subject is covered in PSHE.

There are similar problems for boys, with many having wet dreams before they have learnt anything about them.

Experts are now urging schools to look again at their PSHE and sex and relationships education (SRE) curriculum to tackle the gaps.

The warning has come within the latest edition of the Sex Education Forum’s education resource The Puberty Issue.

It includes the results of research involving more than 2,000 young people aged 11 to 25. It shows that 24 per cent of girls start having their periods before tackling the issue in PSHE/SRE. Fifteen per cent said they were taught nothing at school about menstruation.

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