"Sex education in the UK".  What a joke it would be if it weren't so tragic.  Still too many parents do not inform their children well enough and honestly enough when it comes to sex.  It is reprehensible for a parent to say, as many do:
"I feel too embarrassed to talk about sex."


All parents have a duty to answer their children's questions about sex in an honest and unemotional way.  Giving children truthful answers to their questions will often have no impact on a child who is old enough to be inquisitive but not old enough to understand the answer.  However, when they reach an age when your answer does make sense, at least they can say:
"My parents didn't lie to me when I asked that question years ago."


Many parents imagine that giving information about sex will lead to sexual indulgence and promiscuity.  Quite the reverse is true.  Dutch children are very well informed about sex from a young age and the levels of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases are very low in The Netherlands. Whereas the UK is amongst the highest levels.  Ignorance leads to all kinds of disasters.


As for sex education in schools in the UK, it is beyond a joke.  In an ideal world, questions about sex (or for that matter, anything) could be answered by any adult in any school at any time.
The UK could go towards that by placing sex education firmly on the curriculum, so that, like Maths and English, it is compulsory for all pupils in all schools.  It could then be taught and dealt with openly and thoroughly, including vital information on STDs.


On a lighter note, I recall the story of a boy who returned from school one afternoon and said to his mother:
"We had a sex education lesson today.  Unfortunately, it was only the theory!"