Sex Education Enters the British Kindergarten Curriculum

Give the Brits credit. A country with one of the highest pregnancy rates in Europe has decided to take some strong steps to address the problem.

But they did raise more than a few eyebrows with the decision to bring sex education to all of their schools. The topic will even become part of the curriculum for children in kindergarten.

Yes, that’s correct, for five-year-olds.

Joining Others
The Brits will be joining the likes of countries like France, Holland and China with mandating sex education in school. Still, the topic is seldom addressed with students so young. Most countries begin addressing the topic around the age of 12.

Teaching will be done on the reproduction system and be added to the country’s science curricula. According to the Associated Press, those in kindergarten will see a program that will focus more on the issue of self-awareness.

The move comes in direct response to soaring teen pregnancy rates in Britain. According to government figures, nearly 40,000 girls under the age of 18 became pregnant in 2006. Of that number, roughly 7,000 were under the age of 16.

Not in America
There is, of course, no such mandate in the US. There is in fact no national curriculum and sex education is a decision that remains with individual states and school districts.

However, president-elect Barack Obama is on record as supporting age appropriate sex education for kindergartners, calling it the right thing to do. His position became a focus of a McCain ad during the campaign and earned Obama much derision from conservative talk radio.

Instead of supporting sex education in public schools, the federal government has backed programs that promote sexual abstinence.

Flickr photo courtesy of WoodleyWonderWorks.