What do we want for the children we know and love?
We want to see them know and love God with everything they have. We want them to love their neighbours as themselves. We want them to grow into faithful adults who live as citizens of Heaven and find everlasting life.
But we can never take this for granted – and in our culture there are many pretenders seeking to take Jesus’ place in children’s hearts.
Most children in the UK are going back to school this week, where they will spend many hours being taught and looked after by people who many not share our values. Do you know what the children you care about are being taught?
Of course, there are very few teachers who mean anything but the best for their pupils – many giving up time and better wages to make the difference in children’s lives. But that’s no guarantee that they will understand what’s best for children in the areas of gender, relationships and sex.
What is your child learning in RSE?
As you may know, the government’s plans for all children in England to be taught RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) have been delayed until summer 2021. This is to give schools a chance to consult with parents about changes they’re making to new RSE policy, which they couldn’t do during the lockdown – the RSE guidance for schools refers to this as ‘parental engagement’.
But many schools will be going ahead with the lessons this term, even if they haven’t consulted with parents, as the law requires.
That means there’s no better time to get involved than right now. And we want to help you make a positive difference.
If you’re a parent, we’d encourage you to write to your child’s school to request this consultation take place, find out what your child’s school plans to teach and let them know you support a delayed roll out of RSE.
You can use the templates below to help you write your letter:
If you’re in another part of the UK, many of the same principles will apply – it’s always good to understand what your children are being taught in relationships and sex (or sexuality, in Wales) education, so we’d still encourage you to write to your headteachers to find out.
If you’re a teacher, we have lots of resources to help you follow the new guidance while still remaining faithful to Christian principles. You can find them all here, free to share and download.
Even if you’re not a parent or teacher, you can still take action. Why not forward this message on to friends and family, or church leaders? Whatever our role, we still long to see the next generation flourish and grow into faithful citizens of Heaven. Christian Concern.
