THE leader of Scotland’s Roman Catholics gave warning yesterday of a massive revolt against new sex education proposals for children which he said amounted to “child abuse”.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien attacked the Scottish Executive’s proposed sexual health strategy, claiming that it included sex education for nursery school pupils and the distribution of contraceptives to teenagers without their parents’ consent.
Cardinal O’Brien, who will deliver a series of speeches criticising the strategy, said that he also hoped to commission an opinion poll which he believed would highlight public opposition to a liberal approach to underage sex.
But Jack McConnell, Scotland’s First Minister, said that the plans outlined by Cardinal O’Brien had not been put in place. The Scottish Executive’s sexual health consultation will be completed next month and a strategy will then be drawn up by Malcolm Chisholm, Scotland’s Health Minister.
“There is no suggestion that there should be sex education for very young children and it is wrong to suggest that is the case. I can absolutely guarantee any parent that is simply not going to happen,” Mr McConnell said.
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“I want to reassure everybody that any policy that is introduced in Scotland will be based firmly . . . on respect between young boys and girls, on teaching youngsters to respect each other. It will encourage them to have decent relationships and teach them that it is not necessary in order to have a good relationship as a teenager to get involved in sexual activity.”
Mr McConnell went on to reject claims that the morning-after pill would be handed out to underage teenagers in schools.
Cardinal O’Brien, writing in The Sunday Times, said that if far-reaching sex education plans were introduced to nursery and primary school children, parents would revolt. He gave warning that the issue could be more contentious than the Section 28 debate over the promotion of homosexuality in Scottish schools.
“The Section 28 debate could become a mere flicker compared to the protests of parents determined to preserve their children’s innocence and protect their childhood,” he wrote. “Parents are rightly appalled at the idea of prepubescent, far less pre-school children, being provided with graphic and intimate sexual instruction. Should such material be used it would amount to the state-sponsored sexual abuse of minors.”
The Catholic Church is already in discussion with other religious bodies to present a united front against the proposals.