Wrong sex-instruction
The sex-instruction encouraged by the secular Education authorities is worse than useless.

It is becoming increasingly popular with non-Catholics, and even with a few Catholics, but it is wrong.

It is far too detailed.⁵ You would be appalled to see the anatomy charts of the sexual organs and the growth of the unborn child published for use in schools with boys and girls of twelve and thirteen.⁶ All this type of sex-instruction misses the point. The problem is not chiefly one of giving information) but of training the will.

Sex-instruction is a moral problem. Now God made the Church-not the secular Education authorities-our guide in all matters concerning faith and morals; therefore, it is to the Church, to the Bishops and to the Pope, that we must look for the true solution. Unfortunately, the Government may try to force their harmful sex-instruction on all our Schools. We must resist the attempt. The Bishops in Low Week, 1948, specially declared that sex-instruction is part of the religious instruction of the child. Therefore, it does not concern the secular Education Authorities in any way.

The right sort of sex-instruction
First, there is no need for detailed information. "The history of the world has not yet furnished proof of any need of detailed lessons in sexual physiology", say the Scottish Bishops; and in another place, sex-instruction "must comprise a minimum of factual knowledge".

But at the same time, we must give them the main facts of life. "If a youth is to be trained in the virtue of purity, some

⁵ This type of sex-instruction has often been condemned. Read Pope Pius XI on The Christian Education of Youth, C.T.S. S 99, and the Joint Pastoral of the English Bishops.
⁶ It might be mentioned here that, if you have and use any "Mother-hood" books, you should be most careful not to let the children see them or have access to them. These books are good for you, but harmful to the children.