Values and principles for SRE

The Sex Education Forum (SEF) believes that all children and young people are entitled to quality sex and relationships education (SRE). SRE is the joint responsibility of schools, parents, carers and communities and is an important element of children’s and young people’s development. The following sets out the SEF’s core principles and values that underpin good quality SRE in a variety of settings.

What is sex and relationships education?

Sex and relationships education (SRE) is learning about the emotional, social and physical aspects of growing up, relationships, sex[i], human sexuality[ii] and sexual health[iii]. It should equip children and young people with the information, skills and values to have safe, fulfilling and enjoyable relationships and to take responsibility for their sexual health and well-being.

What are the principles and values which underpin quality SRE?

The Sex Education Forum believes that quality SRE should:

• Be accurate and factual, covering a comprehensive range of information about sex, relationships, the law and sexual health, in order to make informed choices. In schools this should be part of compulsory curriculum provision;
• Be positively inclusive in terms of gender[iv], sexual orientation[v], disability, ethnicity, culture, age, religion or belief or other life-experience particularly HIV status and pregnancy;
• Include the development of skills to support healthy and safe relationships and ensure good communication about these issues;
• Promote a critical awareness of the different attitudes and views on sex and relationships within society such as peer norms and those portrayed in the media;
• Provide opportunities for reflection in order to nurture personal values based on mutual respect and care;
• Be part of lifelong learning, starting early in childhood and continuing throughout life. It should reflect the age and level of the learner;
• Ensure children and young people are clearly informed of their rights[vi] such as how they can access confidential advice and health services within the boundaries of safeguarding;
• Be relevant and meet the needs of children and young people, and actively involve them as participants, advocates and evaluators in developing good quality provision;
• Be delivered by competent and confident educators;
• Be provided within a learning environment which is safe for the children, young people and adults involved and based on the principle that prejudice, discrimination and bullying are harmful and unacceptable.

You may also be interested to read 'Understanding sex and relationships education', which sets out what SRE is and why it is important as well as the principles and values that should underpin good quality SRE.  

Working definitions

[i] Sex- Sex is the process of reproduction found in living organisms in which male and female sex cells are combined to form offspring that inherit features of both parents. This is the source of the diversity which gives organisms the potential to adapt to changing circumstances. A plant’s or animal’s sex is defined by the type of sex cell it produces and this often leads to specialisation into male and female reproductive roles. Sex also refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women (i.e. what is male and female) and is determined by individual’s chromosomes.

Sex is commonly used to refer to sexual intercourse. In SRE the term ‘sex’ can be used to describe a whole range of sexual activities, including non-penetrative sex such as kissing, masturbating etc.

[ii] Sexuality- Sexuality is how people express themselves as sexual beings. It is a component of personal identity and is a rich and complex area of human experience. It has biological, physical and emotional aspects and is influenced by the interaction between these and social, economic, political, cultural, ethical, legal, historical, religious and spiritual factors.

[iii] Sexual health-Sexual health is a state of physical, emotional and social well-being in relation to sex, sexuality and sexual relationships; it is not merely the absence of infection, dysfunction or infirmity. Sexual health is promoted when people are able to have pleasurable and safer sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence, have freedom to choose their sexual and reproductive behaviour, and have accurate information and access to good, confidential health services to enable them to make informed choices. For sexual health to be attained and maintained, the sexual rights of all persons must be respected, protected and fulfilled.

[iv] Gender- Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society maintains a norm for men and women (i.e. what is considered ‘masculine and feminine’). Transgender refers to individuals who are assigned a particular sex/gender at birth but who do not identify themselves with that gender.

[v] Sexual orientation - Sexual orientation describes who a person is physically and emotionally attracted to. Heterosexual orientation refers to attraction to members of the opposite sex; homosexual orientation refers to attraction to members of one's own sex; and bisexual orientation refers to attraction to both sexes.

[vi] Sexual rights- Sexual rights embrace human rights, recognized in international human rights documents, other consensus statements and some national laws. They include the right of all persons, free of coercion, discrimination and violence, to:

• the highest attainable standard of sexual health, including access to confidential sexual and reproductive health care services;
• seek, receive and impart accurate information related to sexuality;
• sex and relationships education;
• exercise care and control of their own body and other people’s access to it;
• choose their partner;
• decide to be sexually active or not;
• consensual sexual relations;
• consensual marriage;
• decide whether or not, and when, to have children; and
• pursue a satisfying, safer and pleasurable sexual life, without infringing other people’s rights.

These definitions have been developed using a variety of sources including WHO’s working definitions