Education Secretary Nicky Morgan Backs Sex Education For 11-Year-Olds

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan Backs Sex Education For 11-Year-Olds
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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - APRIL 09: Nicky Morgan leaves 10 Downing Street after being appointed as Economic Secretary to the Treasury, replacing the new culture secretary Sajid Javid on April 9, 2014 in London, England. Conservative politician Maria Miller resigned as culture secretary following a row over her expenses. Mrs Miller was cleared of funding a home for her parents at taxpayers' expense, but was told to repay £5,800 of the expenses she claimed. (Photo by Rob Stothard/Getty Images)

A conservative parents group has slammed Education Secretary Nicky Morgan's decision to back a sex education resource for schools.

The criticism came after Mrs Morgan put her name to a fact sheet produced by the End Violence Against Women Coalition, outlining plans to teach secondary school pupils about rape, domestic violence, pornography, female genital mutilation and online sex abuse.

The sheet says it intends to help teachers confront 'harmful attitudes in boys and young men' before they become adults.

But Margaret Morrissey from campaign group Parents Outloud told the Mail: "I'm amazed that the Department for Education are supporting this."

She added there was a risk of handing 'extremely explicit information' to young people and it should be for parents to address sensitive issues.

She said: "You are putting a lot of information into young heads about things they may not even have thought of. This new Education Secretary... needs to think very hard about what she is putting her name to."

Mrs Morgan said: "Good quality relationship education which teaches the importance of respect and mutual consent should be at the heart of this.

The fact sheet covers abuse in teenage relationships and the dangers of uploading explicit pictures online.

In the section on rape it condemns 'sexually harmful attitudes and behaviours of men and boys'.

Announcing the sheet's publication, director of EVAWC Holly Dustin said: "Savile, Rotherham and other abuse scandals have begun to expose the scale of abuse that children, especially girls, experience. Our new fact sheet gives teachers the basics."

A Department for Education spokesman said: "Tackling violence against women and girls is a key priority and we are unapologetic in supporting measures to tackle it."