ABSTRACT
Sex education was referred to explicitly by statute in England and Wales for the first time in the 1986 Education Act.1 Since then, the legal framework has been subject to repeated amendment by way of five further Acts of Parliament as well as secondary legislation and government circulars.2 For educational practitioners, these frequent changes in the law have exacerbated the difficulties in addressing this sensitive, complex and highly politicized subject. Law as a descriptive ‘rule-book’ provides essential information for practitioners in sex education (which is to say that it tells us who can teach what and where and sets out the respective formal rights of parents, children and the State), but this chapter wishes to suggest alternative ways of ‘reading law’ that go beyond the formal language and functions of law. From this perspective, the shifts in the legal framework represent a significant
narrative for exploring how public policy in this area has both informed and attempted to resolve conflicts between traditional moral concerns, pragmatic health agendas and broader political conflicts between local and central government. The sheer extent of law in this area is significant in itself, but it is also important to highlight the fact that use of law as a method of regulating sex education is not inevitable and is not replicated in all jurisdictions. Consequently, law is not only a critical site for exploring the recent history of sex education but also demonstrates the increasingly significant role that law plays in resolving disputes, both political and individual, in western societies. Following a critical overview of the recent history of statutory reform, this
chapter examines the law through two alternative theoretical models. First, it looks at recent theory relating to the nature of risk in modern society and relates this to both the public health agenda and concerns about a breakdown in moral certainties. Secondly, drawing on the sociology of childhood and a critique of rights, it explores how law negotiates and is able to reconcile these competing public health and moral concerns.
