Teach-Secondary-14.1

FAMILY friendly? Ian Mitchell sounds a note of caution regarding the relationships eduction now routinely taught within the country’s secondary classrooms… I n recent months, politicians and media commentators have expressed concerns about falling UK birth rates. Between 2022 and 2023, fewer babies were born than at any time since 1977, with the ratio of mothers to infants at 1.44 – the lowest on record (see tiny.cc/ ts141-TP1). In some cases, individuals who chose not to start a family have expressed their regret publicly (see tiny.cc/ ts141-TP2), and their self-reproach provides some food for thought. The reasons for falling birth rates are complex, and it’s not necessarily wise for policymakers to instantly start pulling policy levers in response to what the statistics seem to indicate. The decision to start a family is one that most people will typically make within 10 years of leaving school, which is why I believe that children and teens’ experiences in secondary school may be a good place to begin the discussion. Schools aren’t to blame for falling birth rates, but they do have a responsibility to ensure that children acquire accurate knowledge with which to make later decisions about starting a family. At the same time, schools need to be very mindful of the implicit messages they may be communicating to impressionable children regarding issues of career and family. The ‘why’ and‘when’ With the last Conservative government having introduced a mandatory relationships and sex education curriculum in September 2020, children are now taught in school about what constitutes a ‘healthy’ relationship. I would maintain, however, that teachers may be wasting valuable teaching time in trying to define what ‘healthy relationships’ look like. Pupils are currently taught about the role of the family in creating a stable upbringing for children, and should indeed understand the importance of family stability – yet the existing guidance makes no mention of teaching children about when or why to start a family. What’s striking here is that we have an area of personal development – starting a family – that the government has chosen to completely omit. I would propose that pastoral tutors ought to, at some stage, have a conversation with pupils – even just informally – about why and when people choose to have children. Temporal misconceptions A 2012 Swedish study led byMaria Ekelin found that many high school students were naive to the realities of having children. Overwhelmingly, respondents expressed their intention to start a family, but held a number of misconceptions surrounding important factors such as fertility and the success rates of IVF. In short, participants thought that they had more time than they did for marriage and children. Every individual should understand that starting a family isn’t necessarily an option that can be easily accessed indefinitely. IVF treatment, for instance, is expensive and its success largely subject to chance. Ekelin’s participants seemed to think that they could essentially ‘pause’ having children in order to prioritise their careers. Of course, many people do enjoy pursuing careers before successfully starting families slightly later in life – but there will also be others who simply leave the “ThePSHE curriculumcan paint suchableakpicture ofhumannature, it’s little wonder that peopleare put off starting families” 12 teachwire.net/secondary