Sex education: Some schools tell pupils homosexuality is wrong, says report

Some schools in Northern Ireland are teaching pupils that homosexuality is wrong in relationships and sex education (RSE).

A Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) report said "many schools use language that shames and stigmatises young people" who had sex.

Some told pupils that those who "engage in casual sex must bear the consequences of their actions".

The NIHRC investigated schools policies on the teaching of RSE.

The detailed investigation found most schools were not providing "age-appropriate, comprehensive and scientifically accurate education on access to abortion services".

"Some schools actively contributed to the shame and stigma surrounding unplanned pregnancy and abortion, by making statements such as 'abortion is not a means of contraception and those who knowingly engage in casual sex must bear the consequences of their actions'," the NIHRC report said.

It also said about two-thirds of post-primaries promoted abstinence in their sex education policies.

One school's policy stated that "sexual abstinence before marriage and fidelity within it, will be presented as the positive and desirable option and an achievable reality".

The commission recommended that schools should be monitored to ensure sex education is taught in "an objective and non-judgemental manner".

That should include "detailed assessments of the content and delivery of lesson plans".

The NIHRC was established following the Good Friday Agreement.

It has the power to conduct investigations and compel evidence.

Its investigation into relationships and sex education focused mainly on legal and policy matters but it also made recommendations on delivery of the subject in schools.

About three-quarters (149) of post-primaries in Northern Ireland provided evidence to the commission's investigation and 124 provided their RSE policies.

Some schools provided lesson plans and teaching notes, and experts were also consulted by the commission.

Speaking about the findings, NIHRC chief commissioner, Alyson Kilpatrick told Good Morning Ulster that "an awful lot more needed to be done by a majority of schools in relation to age appropriate, comprehensive, scientifically accurate education and sexual reproductive health and rights".

"The Department for Education needs to work with schools, consult with parents and children, to work out what the appropriate content should be and that it is delivered properly," said Ms Kilpatrick.

In 2018, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) said RSE in Northern Ireland should be compulsory and comprehensive.

As a result, the Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris recently laid new regulations in parliament making teaching topics like abortion and prevention of pregnancy compulsory in schools in Northern Ireland.

He said he had a legal duty to act on the recommendations made in the CEDAW report.

But the change has been criticised by Protestant and Catholic church leaders.

The NIHRC investigation into RSE was carried out before Mr Heaton-Harris's move.

But the commission said that there must be monitoring to "ensure that schools are meeting their new obligations".

"It's very easy to have a policy or to have a list of things you are going to teach, but it is the actual teaching of them and the way in which they are taught which is so influential," said Ms Kilpatrick.

At present, each school in Northern Ireland has to teach sex education but can decide what to teach "based on the ethos of their school," according to Department of Education (DE) guidance.

The NIHRC said that the majority of schools who submitted their RSE policy to the investigation "still promoted the value of the 'sanctity of marriage'", and related terms, such as "permanent committed sexual relationship", and "married love" in their RSE policies and school ethos.

"In addition to this idealisation and promotion of abstinence, marriage, and monogamy, many schools use language that shames and stigmatises young people who do engage in sexual practices," the report continued.

"Most schools also contributed to this association of shame with sexual activity, by attributing specific moral values and personal characteristics to those who engaged (or did not engage) in sexual behaviour."

The NIHRC said about two-thirds of post-primaries taught pupils about contraception, but it was difficult to know if they offered accurate information.

In their RSE policies, some schools stated that "they will present the Catholic teaching that 'the use of any artificial means of preventing procreation is not acceptable'," the report said.

"Some schools even outline their beliefs that "homosexuality" is wrong," in their polices, the NIHRC said.

"For example, one [school] writes that 'the belief that homosexual acts are against the nature and purpose of human relationships will be presented to pupils'," the report continued.

One third of schools who provided information to the NIHRC said their school would teach pupils that "heterosexual relationships was the 'main' or 'ideal' context for sexual intimacy".

The report also said most schools "indirectly contribute to the societal victim-blaming and slut-shaming of women and girls."

It said this was because they focused on how young people could stop themselves becoming victims of sexual abuse or violence, rather than challenging the perpetrators.

The NIHRC said that while their investigation showed some schools provided "comprehensive and scientifically accurate" relationship and sex education, the majority in Northern Ireland did not.

The commission concluded that the case for reforming the RSE curriculum was "compelling".

It provided 13 recommended reforms, including schools involving their students in drawing up RSE policies.