Author: Retired School Teacher, County Antrim

When a child develops a trust in their teacher(s), they will accept what he/she tells them as right and true. If the teacher says it, then it must be right.

Key Stage 1 children are very dependent on their teacher or classroom assistant. They expect him/her to protect and comfort them. A teacher is in a position of “in loco parentis”, meaning they are in place of the parents while the child is at school. At this Key Stage 1 some, not all, still require help with toileting.

This is why all teachers and staff closely involved with children must be vetted through Access NI to prevent any child being abused. In addition to this, referees for staff are sought to make sure the person is fit, law abiding, and with the right experience and character.

• The current CCEA RSE curriculum content being presented makes the teacher abuse the child's innocence

• The teacher will be expected to present sexual topics that destroy the child's mind by adding ideas and actions which form their thinking

• The teacher is a trusted person in the child's eyes therefore he/she will be presenting sinful practices as acceptable

• The teacher will also be asked to present this curriculum without the parent’s knowledge or permission, causing a breach of trust in the relationship between teacher and parents

As the child becomes older, the teaching about beliefs and morals being received in school versus that taught in the home and church will come into conflict and may cause the child to rebel against the values of the home/family/church. The child will increasingly question and refuse to heed the good advice of their parents in favour of the immoral teaching they receive at school. This may well lead to secrecy by the older child until they act on the error they have been taught and seriously damage their lives.

This is the scenario that we face ahead of us.

Heaton-Harris's RSE proposals destroy the minds of both the child and the teacher. How can a teacher present these vile ideas and not be corrupted by what he/she teaches? The child may well become precocious (know about sexual information that would only be known by an older, worldly-wise child). The child will act on this new information with other children and corrupt them. If a child is exposed to this type of learning, he or she will continue in this reinforced behaviour and corruption will spread like an epidemic throughout every social contact.

Parents have concerns with RSE classroom teaching because:

1. Parents know their child best, and want to protect their child's innocence

2. Due to the child's personality, he/she will react differently to what he/she is told

3. Information that is presented to a child, which is not linked to their developmental age, will create confusion and anxiety. Parents understand their child's ability to cope with information

4. A child presented with information, when they are not emotionally able to cope with it, can develop behavioural problems such as crying and tantrums because they cannot always describe their feelings (this can cause problems in school and at home) 

5. Parents know what level of understanding their child has mastered

6. Parents know that what children want is not always good for their wellbeing

7. Children need to be taught about acceptable behaviour, rules and boundaries. Parents are the best people to establish them. What is considered as age-appropriate RSE will lead to children acting out what they've been shown on other children

8. Parents know that children do not know the difference between good and bad secrets, and would not wish their child to be confused in this way

9. Parents would not wish others to have the power to confuse their child about right and wrong behaviour. Parents are their child's moral guardians and have the right to challenge any information that is not suitable

10. A child loves pretend play, and likes to play in different roles e.g. girls like Rapunzel-like characters, but this does not mean they will remain in that role. They will move on and see that as part of their younger self which they leave behind. Reinforcing these will stifle the child's ability to mature into adult roles

11. So-called age-appropriate learning about sexuality can border on grooming, which may cause the child to be vulnerable to those who would harm them because they do not realise that their behaviour opens them up to abuse

12. Early sexual knowledge is linked to grooming and abuse can lead to depression, suicidal tendencies and psychiatric illnesses in adulthood

Therefore, parents, as protectors, who provide safe, stable homes, where children feel secure, should be the only providers of sexual information when a child reaches puberty and not before that event.