Like it or not, most of us did not get our sex education from authorised sources. And a teacher of English is well aware that he is teaching something that pupils are already practising. Most of us did not learn our English from books; we learned it at our mother’s knee. (It is also true that anybody teaching English is at the same time also teaching something else. But that is another story.) Since we already knew all about the English language when we started primary school, it is an instructive exercise to discuss why we teach English at all. As for sex and health, what Laurie Lee called the hornless charging of calves was common experience when he wrote ‘Cider with Rosie’ in 1959 and remains so today. We learn as we grow up.
The authorised source of sex education is now the class-room. And schools are this month embarking on something new (or at least a modification of what is already happening). It is called RSHE (relationships, sex and health education). Voluminous details about the ground to be covered have been prepared and the Church of England has commented on proposals, Peter Tatchell is moderately welcoming about the comments.
I mention this because the issues are dealt with fully by Ian Paul in his Psephizo* blog (which has been rated best of the Christian blogs by Premier digital awards). And this gives me the opening to make readers aware that Ian Paul (who dwells in Nottingham) has much to offer in his blog. He read maths at Oxford, organised production of goodies at Mars, served a curacy in Longfleet, Poole, taught at St John’s theological college in Nottingham, nowadays publishes Grove booklets and speaks on a freelance basis on a variety of issues (including of course RSHE).
Class-room talk about sex is not the beginning and end of the story. First-hand observation and narrative of the kind we find in Laurie Lee’s best-known book accepts adolescent life as it has been and is. The English language and an understanding of sexual experience will go on their way regardless of what authorised sources may say. But that does not dilute our duty to ponder how we can close the gap between what the authorised sources say and what actually goes on. We Christians have, shall we say, a patchy record on matters sexual. We are not well placed to make magisterial comments but we can make suggestions. We can also do our best to make sure we are asking the right questions.
*This alarming (Greek) word occurs twice in the New Testament and means ‘I count’ (by means of pebbles), which was the method of voting adopted by the Greeks. Hence we have the word ‘psephology’ meaning the study of election vote counting. The cognate Greek word for ‘pebble’ comes in Revelation 2.17. Bear in mind that Ian Paul is a mathematician.
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