Sex education 'not good enough' new research suggests

By Robin Knowles
Newsbeat reporter

Nearly half of students say sex education in school is not up to scratch and fails to fully inform them.

New research suggests that one in four pupils do not have any sexual and relationship education in school.

The research found that 81% of 14 to 18-year-olds said their information came from the internet, the television and their friends.

Sexual health charity Brook is calling on the government to improve the way sex education is taught in schools.

The research involving more than 2,000 teenagers also found that 5% said porn was their source of information but only 13% said that the majority of their information came from schools.

In 2010 Ofsted identified education on sex and relationships as a weaker Personal Social Health & Economic Education (PSHE) area and in July the government announced a review of how it is taught in schools.

There are guidelines as to how sex and relationship education should be taught in PSHE lessons but it is not compulsory and schools can opt out.

Biology of reproduction is part of the national curriculum but does not cover issues like sexually transmitted infections, relationship and sexual consent advice or contraception.

Embarrassing

Robert Branston, 16, from London said his sex and relationship education came too late and says it should be taught at a younger age because he received his in year nine and by that time says some people had already had sex.

Robert also said it might be better to get an external professional, such as a nurse to come in to schools.

Aston from JLS said he wished he'd been taught more about sex at school

He said: "It was pretty tragic, they got the French teacher in. She was quite embarrassed if I'm honest. It wasn't really that good."

The research also found that 35% had wrongly heard that women could not get pregnant if they had sex standing up.

Boy band JLS are supporting Brook's campaign, which aims to work with young people to submit recommendations to the government about how PSHE lessons could be improved.

JLS released a range of condoms in 2010 to promote safe sex.

Aston from the band said: "I agree that UK sex education could definitely go further to meet the needs of young people today.

"Teens in Britain deserve more honest, useful information about sex and relationships.

"Learning about relationships is as important as the basic biology lesson.

"I wish I had had the opportunity to ask exactly what I wanted to about sex when I was at school.

"In the end I just chatted to my friends whose answers were not always correct."