SCHOOL sex education is failing children and their health is at risk because they learn from porn instead, MPs warn.
Gonorrhoea cases are at a 100-year high but the government is still not taking sexual health seriously enough, said the Commons’ Women and Equalities Committee.
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It said the use of condoms is falling as fewer places hand them out for free and teens are not encouraged to wrap up.
Children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: “If you are learning about sex from TikTok and you are watching porn, nobody uses a condom.
“Young people are getting inaccurate information from unreliable sources.”
The committee’s report called for a “radical increase” in funding for sexual health services, including NHS appointments within 48 hours and free STI testing by post.
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Rates of some infections are highest for decades
The NHS and local councils do not run as many safe sex campaigns as they used to because of budget cuts, it said.
Only around half of young people said their school’s sex education was useful and research found it is “inconsistently delivered” across the country.
Statistics for 2022 found gonorrhoea cases increased 50 per cent in a year to 82,592 – the highest since records began in 1918.
Syphilis increased to its highest rate since 1948, with 8,692 cases, and there were 199,233 diagnoses of chlamydia.
Children relying on information they find online exposes them to an unacceptable risk of harm
Caroline Nokes MP
Chair of the women’s committee, Caroline Nokes MP, said: “Sexual health services are at breaking point.
“The 2022 data on STIs is a red flag and should encourage everyone to do better.
“There is also compelling evidence that relationships and sex education in schools is inadequate, with nearly half of children saying education in this area is so poor they rely on finding information for themselves online.
“This exposes them to an unacceptable risk of harm.”
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