The battle against compulsory sex education for minors ought to be of major concern to all of us who care deeply about protecting the innocence of children, writes Edmund Adamus
We all know that one of the most fundamental and irreformable truths of Christian teaching, firmly based on natural law, is the rights, responsibilities and duties of parents to be the primary educators and protectors of their children. This truth comes into sharper focus, as it always does, against the backdrop of ever increasing “aggressive” sex education. What do I mean by aggressive? Well, in Catholic schools and indeed in any school for that matter, the principle is simple and ought to be rigorously applied: objectively, content should never offend against modesty. Subjectively, materials must not offend against privacy.
And when it comes to applying such a principle in an “age-appropriate manner” it’s not exactly rocket science to differentiate between what very young children need to know about relationships and sexuality, and what adolescents need to know as they go through their various stages of emotional and psychological as well as physical development. So I would argue that anything that contravenes the principle above is “aggressive” in that it is a form of emotional/psychological and most certainly spiritual “assault” upon the child, especially if parents, who have grave concerns about the content of lessons, have had their right to withdraw their child from such lessons taken away as in the case of all schools across Wales.
From reports in the media you might be excused for thinking that Welsh parents are antediluvian bigots, unreasonably resisting teaching that will keep their children safe and help them negotiate the minefield of relationships in an increasingly dangerous world. But the truth is far more nuanced and, in the cold light of day, the concerns of the parents appear eminently justified – because it would seem that their children are being compulsorily subjected to overt indoctrination and, under the new law, there is nothing they can do.
“Despite strong opposition,” says Lynda Rose, CEO of Voice for Justice, “the Welsh government has introduced a highly controversial RSE code as part of its new general curriculum, in which all lessons will be “developmentally appropriate”. But such teaching, argues Rose, “inevitably exerts pressure on children to accept behaviours and life-style choices that are deemed unacceptable, and for which in any event they are not sufficiently mature to understand and process. Yet, under the new law, ..parents have absolutely no say!”
Only yesterday, gender critical analyst Graham Linehan reported: “Welsh parents aren’t standing for it though, and there’s a judicial review about Welsh RSE scheduled for 15th November onwards.” Public Child Protection Wales has been advocating for months now that parents’ rights over what is and what is not appropriate sex education is an urgent safeguarding concern. Details of their campaign and the latest on the judicial review can be found here.
Linehan highlights “a horrifying review” of the Welsh RSE curriculum published by the Safe Schools Alliance (SSA). “SSA’s investigation of the conceptual framework behind the curriculum found it to be a continuation of Queer Theory’s most paedophilic fantasies,” he explains. Linehan goes to argue that public policy is now informed by the “sinister idea that children are ‘sexual beings’ from birth”. The full SSA review is available here. “Get reading, get sharing, and get angry” urges Linehan.
This is not an exaggeration for as recent as 2020 Warwickshire County Council was forced to withdraw the programme “All About Me” from schools following an outcry from parents because it taught children as young as six about masturbation.
In his address to members of the International Catholic Child Bureau in April 2014, Pope Francis could not have been more forthright about the type of state-imposed libertine-oriented curriculum introduced by Welsh government; “I would like to express my rejection of any kind of educational experimentation on children. We cannot experiment on children and young people. They are not lab specimens!”
All right thinking, conscientious parents and carers know that children are precious. People of sincere faith in the Almighty also believe that they are precious in the sight of God and that we adults, even parents only have temporary “custody” of them on this earth.
The judicial review unfolding this week in Wales is not just some remote legal issue that might or might not blip on our radar of vague interest. It ought to be of major concern to all of us who care deeply about protecting the innocence of children. I don’t know if the parents [mainly mothers] behind PCP Wales will win their case or not, but I do know it was their right and God-given duty to fight and try, and that, in and of itself, is a moral victory. It is a manifestation of what we must all stand up and do from time to time, especially when it concerns the safeguarding of children. As the great Pope Saint John Paul II so aptly put it in paragraph 58 of Evangelium Vitae: “we need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name”.
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