Sex education outrage

AN EXPLICIT sex education booklet designed for 16-year-olds is being distributed to year six students aged 10 and 11 at a Territory primary school.

The booklet contains detailed information about safe sex including pictures of how to put on a condom, injecting drug use, sexually transmitted diseases and masturbation.

The Department of Education, Employment and Training (DEET) has denied authorising use of the booklet _ Keep it Simple: A Guide to Safe Sex (1998) _ for primary schools.

The mother of a Stuart Park Primary School year six student contacted the Northern Territory News because of her concerns about finding the explicit material in her son's school bag.

One section about injecting drug use reads: ``Using drugs by injecting them is a health risk, so if a person is going to use drugs they should consider taking them in other ways (swallow, snort or smoke it).''

There is also a dictionary including definitions of ejaculation, how to use a latex dam and information about oral and anal sex.

``My son told me they were going to have classes about personal development of the body,'' the Darwin mother, who preferred not to be named, said.

``I rang and asked what it was about and the teacher said it was about how at this age their bodies are going through changes like boys' voices getting deeper.

``But then he brought this booklet home.

``My husband and I were looking at it and there are things in here that we didn't even know.''

She said the use of adult concepts were quite disturbing.

``I don't want him reading this stuff at this age,'' she said.

``I asked him about it and he just giggled. He was embarrassed.

``There is stuff in there about how to use the morning-after pill.

``No mother would want their 11-year-old daughter reading that.''

DEET spokesman Stephen Mullins said ``obviously an error had occurred''.

Stuart Park Primary School contracts out its sex education classes to Danila Dilba.

Mr Mullins said the class where the booklet had been handed out had been supervised by a substitute teacher. He said DEET management moved yesterday to authorise a review of the material used by Danila Dilba.

``The material they showed the principal they were going to hand out did not include this one,'' Mr Mullins said.

He said Stuart Park principal Bernie Bree would be writing to all parents involved to explain what happened.

Danila Dilba sex education unit was contacted late yesterday when the Northern Territory News learned of its involvement in distribution of the booklet.

The unit responsible was unavailable at that late stage for comment.


Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Thur, 03 November 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Author: Suellen Hinde
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/