Item from the Smart
Marriages Archive, reproduced in the Divorce Statistics
Collection
The London Telegraph
Tuesday 7 September 1999
Children to be taught about marriage
By George Jones, Political Editor
SCHOOLCHILDREN are to be taught the importance of marriage as part of Tony
Blair's new moral crusade.
Teachers will have to instruct pupils aged between seven and 16 about the
value of traditional two-parent families and the responsibilities of
bringing up children, while boys as young as 13 will be warned that they
will be pursued by the Child Support Agency if they father babies.
The Prime Minister yesterday put the drive to reduce the number of teenage
pregnancies in Britain - the highest in Western Europe - at the heart of
his
campaign for a "new moral purpose in Britain".
William Hague, the Tory leader, described the initiative as a "load
of
hot air" because the
Government was currently discriminating against married families in the
tax
and benefit system.
Downing Street said Mr Blair made "no apology" for initiating
a debate on
major social issues, particularly how to educate children and teenagers
to
resist pressures to have sex. However, the Government was not "preaching"
to
adults about how to conduct their private lives.
David Blunkett, the Education and Employment Secretary, will announce on
Thursday that the National Curriculum will put a strong emphasis on
learning
about the importance of marriage. The new curriculum guidelines for
personal, social and health education (PSHE) lessons will give stronger
emphasis to the institution of marriage as children go through school.
They will state that children aged seven to 11 should be taught "to
be
aware
of the different types of relationship, including marriage, and
differences
between friends and families." By 16, children will be taught about
the
rights and responsibilities of parenting, the quality of good parenting
and
its value to family life.
Mr Blunkett said yesterday the emphasis on marriage and the family in the
new guidelines was part of the Government's attempt to ensure that people
took responsibility for their actions. He denied that Mr Blair's moral
crusade was an attempt to return to "Victorian sexual morality".
He said on BBC Radio's World at One: "Morality is about the nature
of our
relationships to each other. It means people accepting that they have an
obligation to go out to work to earn their own living. I see it day in,
day
out where people's lives are made a misery by the anti-social behaviour
of
others who don't accept the responsibility for their own actions."
Jack
Straw, the Home Secretary, stressed that the Prime Minister was not
seeking
to tell adults how to live their lives but was concentrating on
anti-social
behaviour by children.
With some politicians warning that Mr Blair was risking a repeat of John
Major's "back to basics" fiasco, Downing Street sought to show
that the
call for a new moral purpose was not just rhetoric but would be backed by
positive action. Officials said the Government wanted to see more local
councils using curfew orders to keep unruly children off the streets at
night. They also highlighted proposals for the CSA to target the fathers
of
children born to teenage mothers. It was the clearest hint yet that
legislation to reform the CSA will be announced in the Queen's Speech in
November.
The CSA already has the right to pursue teenage fathers, but has rarely
used
them. A Government spokesman said: "We have got to get the message
across
to
teenagers that an evening's fun could mean having to pay up for the next
16
years."
Mr Hague challenged the Prime Minister to demonstrate his commitment by
giving a specific recognition to married families in the tax and benefit
systems, reviewing the allocation of council housing and increasing the
number of police. "If he did these things it would be far more worthwhile
to
people than setting off a load of hot air called a moral crusade."
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