Primary schools set for sexual education

30 March 2004

AMSTERDAM — A new sex and relationship educational guide for Dutch primary school children is to be presented in Utrecht on Wednesday. The course is intended for children aged 5 and upwards.

“How are babies made?” and “Do girls also have a penis?” are just some of the questions children ask unprepared teachers, say the groups behind the new Relationships and Sexuality teaching guide.

The programme has been designed by sexologist Sanderijn van der Doef on behalf of the Netherlands Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (NIGZ), the educational foundation SLO and publisher ThiemeMeulenhoff.

“Children nowadays receive a mass of sexual imagery via the internet, magazines and television to process,” Van der Doef said.

Openness at an early age about sexuality can prevent problems developing later on, such as unwanted pregnancy and abortion, Van der Doef said.

Every primary school teacher, according to the NIGZ, is confronted during his or her career with questions from their pupils about sexuality. Therefore sex education is no longer solely the task of parents.

“Schools must also be prepared for the questions from children in relation to sexuality,” NIGZ said.

Some 30 schools and institutions have already ordered copies of the teaching material.

The NIGZ said the new teachers’ guide is the only one of its kind in the Netherlands designed for pupils aged from group 1 to group 8 (ages 4-5 to 12).

Subject: Dutch news