Relationship Education in Schools

Rebecca Paul Excerpts

Tuesday 1st April 2025 Westminster Hall

[Rebecca Paul (Reigate) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. I thank the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire) for securing this important debate on relationship education in schools, as well as for touching on the harrowing stories of violence against women and girls in her constituency. Before I proceed further, I offer my heartfelt condolences to the families, friends, colleagues and pupils of those impacted.

In the decade between 2008 to 2018, around three women a week were killed by men in the UK. Shockingly, around one in four women have been raped or sexually assaulted. This shows the gravity of the misogyny in our society faced by women and girls. Although relationship education can only go so far in addressing male violence against women and girls, it plays an important role in educating our young people on what positive and healthy relationships look like and the importance of putting in place clear boundaries. Those skills are vital in navigating relationships, recognising potential abuse, including that of coercive control, and knowing how and when to seek help.

Relationship education was made compulsory in all primary and secondary schools in 2020. Although schools are able to determine their own curriculum, they must have regard to the statutory guidance released in 2019. From my experience of looking at some of the school materials used, it seems that focus in relationship education has a tendency to gravitate towards other topics rather than spending the necessary amount of time on propagating positive and respectful relationships between boys and girls and addressing many of the issues raised today. That is something that schools and the Government need to reflect on.

An important part of relationship education is teaching young people about the risks and harms of the internet and social media. With damaging online porn available at the touch of a button on smartphones, young men are fed a constant stream of misogynistic content that will change how they view women and girls. While they are able to access hours of degrading and violent content directed at women whenever they like, the relatively small amount of time spent learning the opposite in a classroom cannot hope to offset the harmful influence. That is why the Conservatives have called for a ban on smartphones in schools for under-16s, which would at least go part of the way in promoting children’s wellbeing and protecting them from harmful content on social media during the school day.

It is also important to note that, for many young people, the distinction between the online and media world can be blurred, so they need the skills to navigate that safely. We all know that people feel more anonymous online, say things that they would never say face to face and may even present themselves as someone different to who they actually are. On top of this, they are fed a stream of factually incorrect information and unobtainable body images.

In accordance with Department for Education guidance, schools should be alive to issues such as everyday sexism, misogyny, homophobia and gender stereotypes, and take positive action to build a culture where those are not tolerated. In spite of this, sexual violence and harassment does, I am afraid to say, take place in schools. It is vital that such behaviours are not tolerated and are never acceptable. Any reports of sexual violence or harassment should be taken seriously, and it must be recognised that girls are much more likely to be victims, with boys the most likely perpetrator. With that being said, it is vital that our boys are not made to feel that this behaviour is inevitable as a result of them being male. Indeed, it is only a minority who behave in this way.

When it comes to our boys, we should value their unique attributes and not demonise them or make them feel bad for having masculine traits. These traits are not, in the great majority of cases, toxic. The requirement to deliver RHSE has led to a surge in outside providers making available their resources to schools. Some are good, and some are not so good. The guidance is clear that schools should not, under any circumstances, work with or use materials produced by external agencies that take or promote extreme political positions. Accordingly, schools are required to assess each resource to ensure it is age-appropriate and sensitive to their needs, and should provide examples to parents on request. Parents should be given every opportunity to understand the purpose and content of materials, and it is certainly not appropriate for such materials to be withheld under the guise of copyright restrictions.

All parents have a right to know what a school is teaching their child. It was confirmed by the previous Education Secretary in the Conservative Government that materials used in the classroom can be shared, irrespective of copyright restrictions. It should never be forgotten that parents and carers are ultimately responsible for the education of their children, so in most cases teaching in schools should be done with parents, not contrary to them, and in a way that is sympathetic to their values and beliefs. That starts with being transparent about what is being taught.

It is also important to note that schools have a legal obligation to be politically impartial when teaching, which means that children must be offered a balanced presentation of opposing views. It seems that many schools have struggled with the impartiality requirement on this specific topic, which drove additional guidance to be released in 2022. I note the reference to a backlash—

[Sir Jeremy Wright (in the Chair)]

Order. I know the hon. Lady will be swiftly coming to a conclusion so that we can get the Minister in.

[Rebecca Paul]

Thank you, Sir Jeremy.

I note the reference to a backlash against RHSE lessons due to anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, and I want to push back on that. It is not unreasonable for parents to raise their concerns about schools teaching factually incorrect, ideological and damaging content about gender identity. They are right to do so, and it is the responsible thing to do. I agree that the teaching of such harmful concepts as fact has done damage to the important subject of RHSE as a whole.

In closing—

[Sir Jeremy Wright (in the Chair)]

Order. I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Lady, but we really must move on to the Minister.