Goedele Liekens in the class |
It features 13 teenage students, from the Hollins Technology College in Accrington, who volunteer to take part in the classes, taught by Belgian's Goedelle Liekens, the UN Goodwill Ambassador for sexual health.
Liekens is campaigning for a GCSE in sex education, which would include the controversial lessons, and an exam in "sexual pleasure".
These are currently taught to schoolchildren in both Belgium and Holland.
Over her two-week course, filmed for the show Sex in Class, the 15 and 16-year-old boys and girls undertake homework.
The boys are asked to make a "work of art" out of female genitalia, while the girls are told to "examine themselves with a handheld mirror".
Several schoolboys in the class make shocking confessions to the camera about how much pornography they watch, and detail the explicit nature of many of the scenes.
Liekens claims that 83 per cent of children "have seen porn by the time they are 13 years old".
One teenage boy said: "I was 10 when I first saw a porn video.
"I look at it [porn] quite a lot. Two or three times a day."
Others talk about watching threesomes and group sex videos, as well as re-enacting scenes they have seen in pornography.
I suppose it was quite a big step to invite her but in the last year we have dealt with teen pregnancies and inappropriate texts, and without the shadow of a doubt, the biggest single influence on children is pornography
Steve Campbell, Headteacher
Within the first five minutes of the programme, schoolboys are shown looking at pictures of female genitalia and asked which one they prefer.
Headteacher Steve Campbell invited Liekens to the school.
Defending his decision, he said that children were watching so much pornography it was important to correct the balance.
He said: "I suppose it was quite a big step to invite her but in the last year we have dealt with teen pregnancies and inappropriate texts, and without the shadow of a doubt, the biggest single influence on children is pornography."
Later Campbell agrees to include some of the controversial ideas in his own sex education curriculum at the school.
He said: "Re the content, we're [the teachers] now talking about aspects surrounding pornography, masturbation and sexual pleasure.
"I believe that the route we are going down is appropriate and is what is needed in the school."
During the show Liekens also petitions Graham Stuart MP, the chair of the Commons Education Committee.
At the end of a delicate discussion between the two, she wondered if she'd enlisted his help.
He appeared to agree, saying: "Have I just shaken hands to be an advocate for sexual pleasure?!"
A Channel 4 spokesperson said: "The educational programme is being broadcast post the 9pm watershed and it will be made clear to viewers beforehand that it contains frank discussions and images of a sexual nature from the start and throughout.
"Both the school and parents were fully aware of the content that would be covered in the course and gave full consent for the Year 11 pupils to take part."
The one-off show, called Sex in Class, goes out next Thursday at 9pm.
Post a Comment Blogger Facebook Disqus