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Schools 'should teach how to view porn', sex forum says

Bbc.co.uk - Teachers need to know that pornography is not necessarily 'all bad' and can sometimes be 'helpful', a group of sex education experts has suggested.

A new publication advocates pupils being taught how to view pornography in school sex education lessons.

The Sex Education Forum wants pornography taught in terms of "media literacy and representation, gender, sexual behaviour and body image".

Campaigner Lucy Holmes, of No More Page Three, welcomed the idea.

"The more open and honest dialogue we have with young people about sex and porn, the better," said Ms Holmes.

'Mostly unrealistic'

In an online magazine aimed at teachers, the group suggests that pupils as young as five should learn how airbrushing in the media can create unrealistic body expectations, and that sex education lessons for 11-year-olds should include discussion of the dangers of "sexting" - sharing sexual messages and pictures by text.

Pupils aged 14 and over should learn that pornography is acting and not real, that "the sex and bodies are mostly unrealistic", says the magazine.

Teacher Boo Spurgeon, of Forge Valley Community School in Sheffield, told the Sex Educational Supplement: "We know from the facts and figures the average age of starting to watch pornography is about 11.

"So we need to start mentioning it then in a very normal way, so it's not shock horror."

She added that at Forge Valley teachers refer to pornography when talking about the impact of the media on pupils' perception of their own bodies.

"When we do something about self-esteem we will mention again the impact of the way pornography makes people feel about themselves.

"It's about dropping it in here, dropping it in there, making sure that the students know that we are happy to talk about everything to do with relationships and sex, including the impact of pornography.

"We can't get away from it because it's everywhere in society. It's not just what they find in the internet. It's in the newspapers; Page Three, for example."

Ms Spurgeon's students helped compile a list of what they felt students should learn about pornography. They said that some films could be "helpful" but cautioned that they were not a model for good sex.

In particular, they warned that not everything shown was safe, that porn could be addictive and that some actors were forced into making the films. They added that coercing others into performing or videoing sex acts was unacceptable.

'Casual' attitudes

Lucy Emmerson, co-ordinator of the Sex Education Forum, said the idea of the magazine was to help teachers "offer factually correct information and an opportunity for safe discussion that matches the maturity of the child.

"Teachers have told us they are nervous about mentioning pornography in sex and relationship education, yet given the ease with which children are able to access explicit sexual content on the internet, it is vital that teachers can respond to this reality appropriately.

"In addition, teaching children and young people to be critical consumers of media and able to discuss issues about the body, gender and sexual behaviour will equip them with 'filters in their head' to be more in control of the media available to them."

Norman Wells, of the Family Education Trust, said many parents would be horrified at the prospect of their children being taught about pornography within such a framework: "The intention appears to be to steer children and young people away from a belief in moral absolutes and to encourage them to think that there are no rights and wrongs when it comes to sexual expression.

"To take a no-holds-barred approach to sex education has the potential to break down pupils' natural sense of reserve and to encourage casual attitudes towards sex. If we want children to view sexual intimacy as something valuable, special and worthy of respect, it needs to be addressed with modesty and restraint.

"To give lessons on pornography is to play with fire," said Mr Wells.

Think the school run is bad? Children face Indiana Jones-style river crossing EVERY day after floods cut off their community

Dailymail.co.uk - At first glance, it looks like an action sequence from Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom.

But, in reality, it is the daily commute to and from work and school for of adults and children in Lebak, Indonesia.

Clinging for dear life on a disintegrating wood-and-wire suspension bridge, children as young as five take their lives into their hands crossing the Ciberang River every day.

The river crossing become precarious and potentially fatal last week after the suspension bridge was almost washed away by flooding.

A pillar supporting one side of the crossing collapsed, leaving the wooden planks that acted as a path tilted to one side.

Only one side of the suspension bridge remained intact, meaning commuters have had to carefully pick their way over the bouncing structure.

It is far from stable, and locals have already reported sections disappearing overnight.

Children who live on the other side of the bank must use the damaged bridge to get to school.

Sofiah, a student who traverses the bridge each day, explained that the nearest other crossing was half an hour’s walk away.

Seeing as that would mean getting up earlier each morning, and coming home later each night, she said she would rather risk the crossing on the collapsed ropes.

The river is a popular tourist attraction, with its fast waters used by thousands of holidaymakers who wish to go white-water rafting. Video

Sex Classes for Every Pupil at 15

SEX education is to be compulsory for all pupils at the age of 15, schools chiefs announced last night.

Church schools will now have to teach youngsters about contraception and homosexuality - even if it goes against their beliefs.

Until now, parents had a legal right to withdraw children from the lessons. But Education Secretary Ed Balls stepped in to change the rules.

Kids of five will also be taught the "differences" between the sexes under the new Personal, Social, Health and Economic curriculum.

This is already done in most schools, but will now officially become part of the syllabus.

Compulsory sex and relationship lessons at 15 are a bid to cut the number of teen pregnancies.

Faith schools will not be able to opt out, but can teach topics within the "tenets of their religion".

Mr Balls said: "You can teach the promotion of marriage, you can teach that you shouldn't have sex outside of marriage, what you can't do is deny young people information about contraception outside of marriage."

The Terrence Higgins Trust said: "We often see the results of ignorance and poor education so we are glad the Government is tackling this issue."

But the Family Education Trust accused Mr Balls of "imposing his own agenda" on parents.

Coalition Fights Expansion of Islamic Saudi Academy in Virginia

A holy war is brewing in Virginia, where a controversial Islamic school is seeking permission to expand its campus and a group of residents is going all out to stop it.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing Monday night to consider a proposal to expand the campus of the Islamic Saudi Academy, a Saudi-owned college preparatory school.

Critics of the plan point to former students of the school who have been convicted in a plot to assassinate former President Bush, and more recently, arrested for trying to board an airplane with a seven-inch kitchen knife.

And others say they oppose the move to expand the school for one reason only:

"We're opposed to the operation of the Islamic Saudi Academy because it teaches and practices Shariah law," said James Lafferty, chairman of the Virginia Anti-Shariah Task Force (VAST). "Shariah law is anti-constitutional and we feel that it is the ultimate improper land use here in the state where the Constitution was created."

Lafferty said his organization is a coalition with roughly 10 other groups that oppose the land-use expansion. By teaching Shariah law, Lafferty says, the school replaces the U.S. Constitution with a "very backward and barbaric" rule of law.

"Shariah law advocates rights via gender and religion," Lafferty told FOXNews.com. "They allocate rights by gender and religion. If you are a male who is Islamic, you have rights. If you're not, you have no rights."

Founded in 1984, the Islamic Saudi Academy seeks to "enable students to excel academically while maintaining the values of Islam and proficiency with the Arabic language," according to its Web site.

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, the school's valedictorian in 1999, was convicted in November 2005 of joining Al Qaeda and plotting to assassinate President Bush. He was later sentenced to 30 years in prison.

More recently, Raed Abdul-Rahman Al-Saif, who reportedly graduated from the school in 2003, was arrested last month at a Florida airport when he allegedly tried to board a plane while in possession of a seven-inch kitchen knife.

Details of the proposed expansion remained unclear, but the proposal seeks to expand the school's grounds from 20 acres to 34, county officials told FOXNews.com. Calls to the school were not immediately returned.

Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity announced at the beginning of Monday night's hearing that no vote would be taken and that the record would be kept open to allow comment from those not in attendance.

Any vote on the proposal will occur — at the earliest — during the scheduled next board meeting on Aug. 3, Merni Fitzgerald, director of public affairs for Fairfax County, told late Monday.

A total of 46 people have indicated they plan to speak during Monday's hearing, Fitzgerald said.

Iraqi Teen Solves 300-Year-Old Math Puzzle in Four Months

An Iraqi-born 16-year-old reportedly has cracked a math puzzle that has gone unsolved for over 300 years.

Mohamed Altoumaimi, who immigrated to Sweden six years ago, took only four months to find a formula that explains a sequence of calculations known as the Bernoulli numbers, a code that had stumped some of the best experts in the field, Agence France-Presse reported.

Altoumaimi said after his high school teachers were skeptical about his work he contacted professors at Uppsala University, one of Sweden's top institutions, who confirmed his formula was correct and offered him a place at the university, AFP reported.

The teen opted to continue his general studies but planned to take courses in advanced mathematics and physics this summer, AFP reported.

Parents Fuming as Texas Schools Let Gideons Provide Bibles to Students

Some parents in Frisco, Texas, are fuming because their public school district allowed Christian evangelists to provide Bibles to students on school grounds, which administrators say was done to stop even more proselytizing outside the schools.

Frisco Independent Schools allowed Gideons International to display Bibles on tabletops in all 13 of the district's middle and high schools last week. Officials say it didn't violate the law, but some parents say school is not the place to be offering the Good Book.

"I was never notified by the schools that they were going to allow this. I was a little shocked," said Debbie Lutz, a mother with three children who attend schools in Frisco, about 20 miles north of Dallas.

Michael Baier, who has a son at Frisco's Lakeland High School, said that religious groups should not be allowed to offer their teachings on campus.

"If they're God-fearing Christians ... they should be giving those items wherever they worship. School is a place to learn, not a place to worship," Baier told.

Lutz said she wants the freedom to raise her children as she sees fit — and without the interference of religious groups. She told she worried that allowing one group to offer Bibles in the school would open the floodgates to any groups who want to reach students on school grounds.

"It does open the door for other people to have the right to hand out other stuff. And I think that's not a good door to open."

School administrators say that door was opened because the Gideons used to stand on public sidewalks near the schools and distribute Bibles to students as they went home.

That raised some alarms for parents, some of whom even contacted the police about their children's safety. And it stymied the school system, which says it has "no control over what takes place on the public sidewalks."

The Gideons are now taking advantage of a school policy that allows them to leave Bibles on a tabletop in the schools' front offices, though they're barred from interacting with students or remaining there during school hours.

A spokeswoman for the school district said that a number of materials are made available to students this way, including newspapers, camp brochures and tutoring pamphlets. College and military recruitment information is available all year long. The Gideon Bibles were made available for just one day.

"We have to handle this request in the same manner as other requests to distribute non-school literature — in a viewpoint neutral manner," Shana Wortham, director of communications for the district, wrote in an e-mail.

Wortham said that the schools did not solicit or invite the Gideons in, and when one of the evangelists tried to speak to students, administrators quickly stepped in to address the violation.

Gideons International had no comment on their in-school offerings when contacted by phone Tuesday.

Adult representatives for the Gideons have been barred by federal circuit courts from offering Bibles inside classrooms, but they continue to offer to provide them at many schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and elsewhere. The group, founded in 1907, has distributed about 1.5 billion Bibles in the last century, mostly in hotel rooms.

Some parents weren't troubled by the presence of the Gideons or their Bibles.

Holly McCall, president of the parent-teacher association at Roach Middle School in Frisco, said she was at the school when the Gideons dropped the books off, and they didn't disturb anyone.

"I didn't feel like [the Bible] was being pushed upon" students at the school, she told. She said she didn't expect to be notified every time books or pamphlets are on offer in the office at Roach Middle. That would be like an advertisement for the Bible, she said.

School officials told they would continue to review their policies, but they stressed that they had followed the letter of the law.

But for some parents looking for a neutral education in the public school system, that wasn't enough.

Lutz, whose children go to schools in the district, said she wants the freedom to raise her children as she sees fit — and without the interference of other religious groups.

"I am not atheist — I believe in God," she told. "But I just don't want any religion forced on my child at school. That's why my child goes to a public school."