A new school sex education curriculum will teach young people about consent, the influence of pornography and sexual and gender identity.
The new Junior Cycle program has been finalized and will be deployed in schools next September, reports RTE.
It will replace the current show, which is over 25 years old and does not address issues such as consent and pornography.
With the new RSE programme students “students should be able to appreciate the importance of seeking, giving and receiving consent in sexual relationships, from the perspective of building sharing relationships, and from a legal perspective”, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment says.
The curriculum specification says that students will be expected to learn to “appreciate the importance of setting healthy boundaries in relationships and consider how to show respect for the boundaries of others”, reports RTE.
They would also “explore the pressures to become sexually intimate and discuss ways to show respect for people’s choices”.
In relation to pornography, the new specification says that “students should be able to discuss the influence of popular culture and the online world, in particular the influence of pornography on a young person’s understanding, and expectations, and social norms in relation to sexual expression”, reports RTE.
It states that students should be able to “demonstrate how to access and appraise appropriate and trustworthy advice, support and services related to relationships and sexual health”, reports RTE.
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