Stay Safe lessons still optional in many schools [eircom.net]
- Published: 31 August 2010
As almost 3,300 primary schools reopen this week, children's charity Barnardos said there is no reason why Stay Safe should still be an optional programme for primary schools.
The Department of Education said a survey which 80% of primary schools responded to showed that, while 92% of schools use Stay Safe, 123 were not teaching it last year. Although 76 of these were using an alternative child protection course, the figures suggest around 60 primary schools nationally offer no such classes for their pupils.
Stay Safe is used in the social, personal and health education (SPHE) curriculum to teach children to recognise an unsafe situation and tell an adult about it. They also learn how to respond to unwanted touching and to know it is all right to say "no" if asked to do something wrong or dangerous.
Full Story: news.eircom.net
