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Narrow focus on ‘pills, pregnancy and periods’ puts boys off SRE

Pastoral issues PSHE Pupil wellbeing
Schools are being urged to make their sex and relationships education (SRE) “gender-aware” and avoid the narrow focus on “pills, pregnancy and periods” that can push boys away.

The Sex Education Forum (SEF), which is behind the campaign, has produced a range of free teaching resources to help, covering key stages 1 to 4.

The SEF is concerned that gender inequality underpins all our lives and at the negative impact that this is having.

It points to two recent research projects based on the large-scale National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles. The first shows that one in five women are sexually assaulted compared to just one in 20 men.

The second shows that boys are missing out on family conversations about sex and relationships – with mothers more likely to talk to daughters than their sons about sex and fathers less likely to speak with their children at all.

The SEF wants SRE to be inclusive and presented in a way that does not leave boys feeling left out. Information should be presented, it says, “in a way that caters to all genders, including transgender and non-binary children”.

Its new resource – entitled The Gender Issue – aims to make topics, such as fertility, just as engaging for boys as girls. It also demonstrates how issues of power and control can be tackled explicitly, such as by using drama activities.

Writing in SecEd last week, Anna Feuchtwang, chief executive of the National Children’s Bureau, which hosts the SEF, said that schools can help to address gender inequality within SRE and beyond: “There is much that schools can do to address gender inequality, both within the curriculum and through a whole-school approach. A developmental programme of SRE as part of PSHE is essential.

“Gender is a term that pupils may not immediately understand, so opportunities are needed to build an understanding of the difference between sex and gender; of gender roles and stereotypes, and of gender identity.

“The fact that sex refers to the biology of being male or female, whereas gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours and norms that society maintains for men and women, is a good starting point.”

Ms Feuchtwang said that the lesson ideas within the new resource show how teachers can “avoid the trap of focusing only on ‘pills, pregnancy and periods’ and inadvertently pushing boys away from SRE”.

Lucy Emmerson, coordinator of the SEF, added: “Gender affects a school community on so many levels – from the curriculum to staff roles, from pupil achievement to behaviour.

“In fact it is so pervasive that it can sometimes be a struggle for teachers to know how to make a start. Getting this right doesn’t happen because of one isolated lesson or assembly, but requires a joined up approach that builds understanding of gender through the curriculum. A good-quality programme of SRE will be gender-aware from the start and will help all pupils to communicate with each other and to develop attitudes of respect and non-violence.”