Scout Association introduces sex education policy

United Kingdom, October 20: The Association that taught several young people to tie reef knots and light fire will now extend its training schedule to accommodate sex education to promote sexual health.

Scouts of all age groups, from beavers, aged six, to explorers, aged 18, will be involved in this movement with explorers having greater focus. The movement will include sexual health advice and visits to sexual health clinics.

The Association decided to introduce sex education after last year's World Jamboree in Essex, attended by around 40,000 boys and girls, held to mark the movement's centenary.

Association has got requests from the leaders on how to address the issue to their youngsters and advice them.

"We have a duty of care to these young people. We are particularly good at advising young people when it comes to activities like mountain climbing and so on. We think that with the state of the UK today, we have got to try to do something about this.The policy will not simply be reactive - to give advice when asked for it. Sexual health guidance will also be part of the scouts activity programme," a Scout Association spokesman said.

"If parents approach leaders and say that there are certain things that they really, really don't want us deal with, then we will respect that," he added.

Ann Widdecombe, the Conservative MP, commented, "This is not what parents expect of the Scout Association. They are sending their children off to a leisure activity, not for sex education."

"This is a matter for parents and they already find their role usurped by schools. They certainly do not need the scouts doing it as well. It is up to parents to control the pace of revelations, not the scouts," Widdecombe
added.

The issue of sex education for scouts was addressed by the founder of the movement, Lord Baden Powell, in his writings.

Information and fact sheets are sent to leaders containing issues like where to obtain contraception and pregnancy testing and what should a leader do if they suspect a young person being exploited sexually. This will lay emphasis on ways to introduce the policy and their role as information providers.

Activities will include discussions about different religious beliefs regarding sex, and 'how to say no' role plays. Two female explorer scouts will present a programme and talk about the cervical cancerdefine vaccine.

This month's edition of Scouting magazine will carry the announcement of the policy to its members. A documentary named "Embarrassing Teen Bodies" will be screened this month to promote the movement. The association tied with Channel Four in Britain for this documentary.

Supporting the movement, Beverley Hughes, Minister for Young People, said, "We warmly welcome this new sexual health guide from the Scout Association, while our teenage pregnancy rates are coming down and are at the lowest rate for over 20 years, there is much more to do to ensure young people have the knowledge they need to prevent early pregnancy and look after their sexual health."