THE headmaster of a private school is considering inviting a former porn star to teach sex education to his students.
Mark Slater, from the 28,000 pound – a year The Leys School in Cambridge, said that he would not rule out inviting someone with experience of the [sex] industry to talk to pupils about the perils.
Referring to the “horrifying statistics” which suggest that more and more youngsters are gaining access to hardcore pornography, he said that pupils needed to be made aware of the unrealistic nature of the online material.
He said it was vital that children were made aware of the differences between porn and genuine relationships.
Slater, who is due to retire at the end of this year, said he accepted that his pupils were watching porn.
Inviting in someone with direct experience of the [sex] industry would help to educate them he said.
“I wouldn’t rule it out, simply because of what they have done in their life, if I felt that person was going to put across good values and be a good influence,” he said.
“There are young people who have got easy access to all sorts of material which wasn’t accessible years ago.
“And I think what we have got to do is empower them with good judgment and make them understand that this kind of thing can be addictive, it can be damaging and a certain amount of willpower is necessary.”
He added: “As a school we see pastoral care as possibly the most important job we do.
“And under the heading pastoral care comes the need to prepare people for life, for their future, and an important part of that is their relationships.”
His comments coincide with calls from Julian Huppert, the Lib Dem MP for Cambridge for youngsters to be taught about relationships.
He said schools concentrated too much on the “mechanics and biology of sex”.
Source: The Times
Re-published in The Dominion Post. Tuesday, June 18, 2003, B3.