Sex education discussed on day the government review guidelines

A play and discussion forum, held at the Lawrence Batley Theatre, was co-organised by the University’s Dr Jo Woodiwiss

THE University of Huddersfield provided backing for an unusual event – combining an innovative piece of theatre and a panel discussion – that probed issues around sex education.  It took place just as the Government was concluding its consultation exercise on new guidelines that will regulate the teaching of the subject when it becomes compulsory in schools.

The audience included many people actively involved in Relationships and Sex Education and Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education and they took part in the well-informed session that followed a performance of The Talk, written by Neela Doležal, who afterwards joined the expert panel that fielded audience questions and comments.  It also included the University of Huddersfield’s Dr Jo Woodiwiss, who has a research focus on young people’s sexuality.

The Talk, which has been performed around the country, involves five versatile actors who perform in headphones that are used to transmit edited versions of actual interviews recorded by Ms Doležal, who spoke to large numbers of children and adults from primary school age to old age.  They talked in often graphic detail about their contrasting experiences of sex and relationships education.  There were also interviews with key specialists in the field and with leading politicians whose portfolios have included the subject, such as Ed Balls.

After the actors have heard the recordings via their headphones, they immediately reinterpret the passages for the audience, rapidly switching between characters and accents.  It was a virtuoso display from all five actors that earned a warm response from the audience in the Cellar Theatre at Huddersfield’s Lawrence Batley Theatre.  The University of Huddersfield was one of the sponsors of the performance, alongside Arts Council England.

It was pointed out that the event was taking place on the same day that concluded the Department for Education’s consultation exercise on its draft regulations, statutory guidance, and regulatory impact assessment relating to Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education, and Health Education.  Controversy has surrounded the draft guidelines and several members of the panel and the audience were critical of them and of factors that have delayed the introduction of compulsory relationships and sex education.

The panel – which included Dr Eleanor Formby and Professor Julia Hirst of Sheffield Hallam University alongside Dr Woodiwiss and Ms Doležal – provided their views on the issue and their analysis for the reluctance to develop sex education.

Ms Doležal said that the subject was about helping young people to make informed choices.  Dr Woodiwiss commented that fears of teaching children about sex arose because the subject was seen as dangerous to childhood.  “But we need to challenge what we mean by childhood sexual innocence.  Children and young people are sexual beings, and we need to stop being scared of that,” she said.