It’s time to listen to parents on PSHE
Chief Executive of the PSHE Association, Joe Hayman, writes that the evidence is clear: parents, key stakeholders and polling evidence all support statutory PSHE education for children and young people.
The safety of children and young people – whether within the school gates or when they are online – is constantly on the front pages. Whether it is recent coverage of the Women and Equalities Committee’s new inquiry into sexual harassment at school or the Times campaign for schools to teach about the risks of sexting, the safety and wellbeing of our children in a changing world is one of the big issues of our age.
Educating children and young people on how to keep themselves and others safe through PSHE education was once seen as a ‘controversial issue’, but that is no longer the case. In a YouGov survey covered in the Times recently, 91% of parents of children aged 18 and under said that PSHE education, planned in consultation with families and tailored to the age and maturity of pupils, should be provided to all school pupils. National bodies representing parents and parent interests including Mumsnet, ParentZone, PTA UK (the national body for parent-teacher associations) and the National Governors’ Association are also calling for statutory PSHE education.
The YouGov survey suggests that just 1% of all parents are strongly against PSHE being delivered to all pupils. It is important that all parents are consulted as PSHE programmes are developed, and our new analysis of best practice in safety education, jointly launched with the National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP), shows that the most effective interventions on this issue have parents closely involved.
Yet these best practice principles will only be applied in all schools across the country if the status of the subject is raised. Statutory status for PSHE not only has the support of 91% of parents but 88% of teachers and an overwhelming consensus of national bodies concerned about child safety and wellbeing, including the Children's Commissioner, the national police lead for child sexual exploitation, the Chief Medical Officer, Public Health England, two Royal societies, five leading teaching unions, six Royal medical colleges and 100 expert bodies including the NSPCC, Barnardo's, the Association of Independent LSCB Chairs, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and the Children's Society. These experts recognise that improved status and quality for PSHE education is the best way to ensure that children get high-quality lessons on staying safe in a fast moving world.
Current policy is out of step with the views of parents across the country – we call on government to listen to parents, experts and young people themselves by giving PSHE the status it deserves.
