Compulsory Sex Ed Problematic for Christian Families
Germany’s strict federal laws on compulsory school attendance do not allow any opt out with regard to sexual education.
Germany's states hold the competency for education laws. They all have a law on compulsory school attendance. Generally they allow exemptions – but not from the sexual education lessons. These lessons are mostly based on morally liberal ideas, advocating hardly any boundaries. Issues such as chastity, abstinence, natural fertility and the meaning of sexuality within the pursuit of happiness are normally not discussed. Such sexual education poses problems to Christians parents. If they opt their children out of these classes – or only a particular lesson – they face fines. In countless proceedings, Christian parents were required to pay fines and faced prison sentences when they refused to pay. The European Court of Human Rights has not supported the parents who called on it for help. See decision 319/08 in 2011. For German please visit: http://www.bmj.de/SharedDocs/EGMR/DE/20110913_319_08.html?nn=2363088