Bridgend Council has faced heavy criticism for an incendiary PowerPoint presentation targeting schools and other youth settings. Many critics believe that it promotes the act of strangulation while having sex. The slide in question featured the phrase, “It is never OK to start choking someone without asking them first,” raising significant concerns among educators, politicians, and victims’ advocates.
The council commissioned this resource to fulfill its state-mandated initiatives to improve the state’s sexuality education curriculum. This new curriculum will serve all children, three to 16 years of age, across Wales. The mere fact that any draft would contain that statement has elicited widespread outrage. Protagonists and experts are now endlessly mystified that an illegal act was ever deemed suitable for a child’s curriculum in the first place. Bridgend Council later claimed that they had taken the contentious slide out during the draft stage. Consequently, it was never delivered to kids.
Michael Conroy, a former personal, social and health education co-ordinator, said the slide was “truly frightening”. He said, too, that there were serious issues with staff not being adequately trained in the pedagogy that was required to teach the content.
“None of their staff are trained to deliver,” – Michael Conroy
Conroy pointed out that the overall message presented would have been very concerning regarding consent in dangerous situations. He said the notion that a person should be able to strangle someone else as long as they had permission was “horrible.” He added the act of displaying this type of content is the “antithesis of protecting” and is a major violation of trust.
Bridgend Council later defended the controversial presentation. They explained that the purpose of that slide was to encourage discussion among participants and to underscore the fact that non-fatal strangulation is a felony.
“The idea was that the presenter would use the slide to stimulate debate before advising participants that non-fatal strangulation is actually a dangerous, illegal crime which carries significant penalties,” – Bridgend Council’s statement
Even after getting this explanation, Conroy was still unconvinced as to why the council’s original decision to include this sort of content. He argued that it opened an important discussion of what should be considered acceptable for educational resources.
“It does not negate from that fact those responsible for the content originally deemed it appropriate. This is where I have my concerns,” – Michael Conroy
Natasha Asghar, Assembly Member of the Welsh Parliament, has criticized the council’s move as “political censorship.” To this end she has recently sent a letter to the council leader calling for clarity over the material being deployed in schools and other educational settings.
“I’m requesting both versions of this PowerPoint presentation,” – Natasha Asghar
Asghar pointed to a larger issue—the need for parents to be aware of what sexual education content is being taught in schools. She encouraged parents to lobby schools directly for support and resources for professional, social and health education (PHSE) classes. She challenged them to read these materials cover-to-cover.
“We shouldn’t disguise the fact those responsible for creating the content originally deemed this appropriate. We need to look into this to make sure children are being taught properly,” – Natasha Asghar
London’s Victims’ Commissioner, Claire Waxman, described the content as “deeply concerning”. Waxman urged closer monitoring of the content of sex education curriculum to shield kids from damaging messages.
Fiona Mackenzie, who has campaigned against what has been called the “rough sex defence,” agreed. She called on government leaders to assert more oversight over sex ed materials to make sure they meet defined safety standards.
“I know government will dismiss this as the work of just one sex ed provider but all parents should ask to see the materials their children are being taught in PHSE,” – Fiona Mackenzie
The outrage over this talk has gone all the way to Trump’s Transportation Secretary. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Wales’ First Minister Eluned Morgan were sent just such an open letter. The letter highlighted what it meant to teach this kind of content to young children.
Baroness Jacqueline Foster emphasized the potential for serious legal consequences of non-fatal strangulation. In Parliament on June 24th, she reiterated that this act is a criminal offense, punishable by imprisonment.
