No sex please, I'm not a human.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8529595.stm

Lets pretend that I, on an ideological or religious basis, don't like maths. I think it is damaging, and potentially harmful, and that my children shouldn't know anything about it. My faith have set up a school. Should it be allowed for the children attending it not to learn any maths? Or to learn about it whilst being subjected to repeated assertions that it is bad and wrong?

No. Children have to learn maths. Without it their life, both later and current, will be impaired. They will encounter situations they don't understand, or don't know how to navigate. They could be taken advantage of.

If my child should decide when they are older that they too don't like maths I should be very pleased, but its up to them to make that decision, once they have had the opportunity to learn it. Because if they don't learn it while they are young then any of the bad things that could result might happen before they know about it, and its much harder to learn once you get older.

This is, of course, a rather thinly veiled metaphor for what should be taught in faith schools with regards to sex education. I'm sure those who support the teaching of religious biased, fact omitted sex education might regard my alignment to maths as flippant and irrelevant, claiming that sex education isn't necessary for life int eh same way that maths is.

But it is. Biologically you cannot stop a child developing sexually, and they will encounter experiences of a sexual nature. Whether welcome or forced, knowledge of contraception, pregnancy options, sexually transmitted disease, relationships, and sexual self confidence are needed. Because everyone will encounter a sexual situation. Ignorance does not keep your children innocent, it just makes them a hell of a lot more likely to get hurt and damaged in the future.

I don't disagree with faith schools, but I see them as a way of incorporating some religious teaching along side a normal curriculum, not intruding into all subjects. Islamic schools work around prayer times, Jewish schools incorporate dietary requirements, in Catholic schools you sing hymns in assembly. But they shouldn't be the site of damaging indoctrination.

In this situation people often talk about parents rights, to teach their child the morals they wish. But by that vein some one could teach racism on the grounds of religion. The Catholic churches attitude to homosexuals in fact borders on that.

And what about the child's rights? To have the opportunity to learn about themselves, and given all the information one day make their own decision?

Its the children that need to be thought of, not the parents lobbying and bulling. And the Government need to be stronger and see that.

Those parents might be gloating now, pleased that they have 'won' the sex education battle. But when their child winds up pregnant, or with an STI, or can't talk to them and doesn't understand the advances of someone on the Internet, or is unhappy in their marriage (if everything goes perfectly and they stick with the religion and abstain before) because they haven't been taught how to feel about their body or their wants or sexuality.

And if the Government can see anything else they should see Britain's appalling statistics for teenage pregnancy and STIs going up not down in the future on the basis of their 'watered down' bill.