PREVIEW: Northern Ireland’s Young People are Demanding Better Sex Education

Posted byThe Gown Queen's University BelfastPosted inCurrent Affairs, Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing, northern irelandTags:, , , ,

By Beth Healy

Currently, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) in Northern Ireland is not standardised across the board, allowing schools to devise their own cirriculum which meets their school ‘ethos’, meaning different students are getting different information. 

In 2019, Research by Belfast Youth Forum with QUB’s Centre for Children’s Rights and Common Youth found that 72% of students felt that they had a right to receive RSE in school but that 73% said they had RSE ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ and 60% said that the RSE they did receive was “not very useful” or “not useful at all”. 

The gaps in RSE seem particularly present in Catholic schools and when it comes to issues surrounding identity, LGBTQ+ relationships, healthy relationships, consent and safe sex…

Some in Northern Ireland’s government believe gay conversion therapy should remain legal, PA Media

Read more of this article when the Gown’s online issue is released on 16th of September.

Published by The Gown Queen's University Belfast

The Gown has provided respected, quality and independent student journalism from Queen's University, Belfast since its 1955 foundation, by Dr. Richard Herman. Having had an illustrious line of journalists and writers for almost 70 years, that proud history is extremely important to us. The Gown is consistent in its quest to seek and develop the talents of aspiring student writers.

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