Rishi Sunak decided to stamp out ‘unacceptable’ classroom practices
Schools are to be banned from teaching that gender is a ‘spectrum’, amid fears it is encouraging children to question their sexuality.
Rishi Sunak will today publish tough new guidance that will limit lessons on sex education to the over-nines and ban the teaching of ‘highly contested’ gender ideology at all.
The new guidance will ban schools from teaching that there is a ‘spectrum’ of genders. It warns explicitly that the practice could be fuelling the rise in the number of children questioning their sexuality, often with potentially devastating consequences.
It states that material suggesting someone’s gender is ‘determined by their interests or clothing choices’ should never be used as it ‘risks leading pupils who do not comply with sex stereotypes to question their gender when they might not have done so otherwise’.
The guidance is likely to mean teachers can no longer use contentious material such as the cartoon ‘Barbie to GI Joe’ diagram which asks youngsters: ‘Where on the spectrum might your gender identity be?’
PM Rishi Sunak will today publish tough new guidance that will limit lessons on sex education to the over-nines. Pictured here during the Conservative Party Spring Conference
Schools will be instructed to make clear that children cannot legally reassign their gender until the age of 18.
It states: ‘This means that a child’s sex will always be the same as their biological sex and, at school, boys cannot legally be classified as girls, or vice versa.’
For the first time, teenage children will also be taught about modern phenomena, such as pornographic deepfakes, stalking and the danger presented by misogynistic online influencers.
It will also extend to other areas of life, with older children warned about the potential dangers of things like problem gambling, vaping and knife crime.
Youngsters will be warned to moderate their use of mobile phones in the evenings and not to have their phones in their bedrooms.
The move follows warnings from Tory MPs, campaigners and parents that some schools were using inappropriate material to teach sex education to young children, including claims that there are up to 72 genders.
Schools will be instructed to make clear that children cannot legally reassign their gender until the age of 18 (stock)
Mr Sunak today says he is determined to stamp out ‘unacceptable’ classroom practices – and says parents must always have the right to see everything their children are taught in such a sensitive area.
The new guidance triggered a backlash from the teaching unions. But campaigners welcomed the move. Jason Elsom, of campaign group Parentkind, said research had revealed ‘very serious concerns’ among parents about the way in which sex education is taught.
He added: ‘When schools fail to be transparent with parents, it’s natural to wonder what they’re hiding.’
Tory MP Nick Fletcher said: ‘It’s been a long campaign but it looks like we have won. We must keep our children safe at school.’
