Half of schools face resistance from parents over sexual education

Almost half of primary schools (46 percent) have encountered resistance from parents in the past year when providing sex education at school, according to a study by the knowledge center Rutgers and DUO Onderwijsonderzoek & Advies. In 2022, the resistance to these information lessons was still 19 percent.

The researchers interviewed 426 of the approximately 7,000 school leaders in the Netherlands in the run-up to Spring Fever Week, which starts for the 20th time on Monday.

Over a third (37 percent) of school leaders said that the resistance has increased in recent years. It involved parents asking to keep children out of certain lessons or keep their child at home during lessons on sex education. A few school leaders indicated that parents sent a child to another school because of the sex education. Teachers or board members also received threats in a few situations.

According to school leaders, the main reasons for resistance are fear, cultural background, religious beliefs, media coverage, and parents' thinking their child is too young. In over half of the cases (55 percent), the school did not make any adjustments in response ot the resistance. Approximately a quarter of school leaders held conversations with parents.

The study also reported that 96 percent of schools pay attention to relationship and sex education, a slight increase from the 92 percent in 2022.

Over a third (36 percent) of schools are participating in Spring Fever Week, known as de Week van de Lentekriebels in Dutch, this year. In 2022, this was still 43 percent. During the week, primary school children from all groups receive lessons on relationships, sexuality, and resilience.