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Source: ONE News
A new sex education programme targeting nine-year-olds has drawn criticism from lobby group Family First, which says parents should be left to teach children about the facts of life.
The Sexuality Road, a new resource for teachers of late-primary and intermediate-age children, was to be launched by Family Planning on Monday.
The resource was aimed at younger children because research showed people now entered puberty earlier, Family Planning director of health promotion Frances Bird told The Press.
"Young people have a right to understand what is happening to their bodies and their emotions," she says.
"Sexuality education that works starts early, before young people reach puberty, and before they have developed established patterns of behaviour."
The new resource came with different lesson plans, activity worksheets, and resources for children in years 5 and 6, and years 7 and 8.
"Some people are concerned that providing information about sex and sexuality arouses curiosity and can lead to sexual experimentation. There is no evidence that this happens," Bird says.
However, Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said children should be taught sex education by their parents when they were ready.
"The simple message to Family Planning is `butt out and leave it to parents'," he told The Press.
"Parents know their kids the best. They know their emotional and moral development best and have their own values. Family Planning should not be interacting with kids of that age."
Some parents felt overawed by "the sex talk" with their children, so resources should be put in to helping them better understand what was required, McCoskrie says.
"It needs to be values-based and we think parents are the ones who determine the values."
