Last week, the Queen enshrined into law the decision from Justine Greening to make Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) mandatory in all schools.

The law states that, from September 2019, all English secondary schools, including state, academy, free and private schools, must teach Sex and Relationship Education, and all primary schools must teach relationships education.

This follows years of campaigning from charities, including Terrence Higgins Trust, as well as from teachers, parents’ groups, and young people themselves.

Health and education have always gone hand in hand—and this legislation could have a transformative impact on the sexual and mental health of many future generations as they navigate life outside the classroom.

Young people have always been disproportionately affected by poor sexual health and the modern age has added new threats such as cyberbullying, sexting, and online exploitation to the existing risks of STIs and unplanned pregnancies.

We know that quality Sex and Relationships Education can delay sexual activity, reduce sexually transmitted infections, prevent HIV, and drive down the number of teenage pregnancies.

It can also give young people the essential life skills they need to have healthy relationships, both with themselves and others, to recognise and report abuse, to negotiate the sex and relationships they want and to promote tolerance and reduce homophobic bullying. The mental health benefits of this on young people could be life-changing, if it is delivered in a full, consistent, and meaningful way.

The potential of compulsory SRE will, of course, only be realised if every young person has access to it.

Much has been said in the media about parental rights to withdraw their children from the lessons should they wish to. A lot of this debate misses the point; the majority of parents do support mandatory SRE and actively want their children to learn about these issues from a trusted professional, in a safe environment, rather than from their peers, the internet, or pornography.

In our experience, most parents recognise that talking to young people about sex and relationships, in an age-appropriate way, is a way of safeguarding and preparing young people. We firmly believe that no child should be left behind or without the information they need to make healthy life choices. Denying a child access to this information, and maintaining a wall of silence, does not do them any favours in terms of their health and wellbeing.

We know that the government won’t allow parents to withdraw primary school children from Relationships Education. This means children will be better safeguarded against abuse, particularly when we know that, sadly, it can and does happen at home in some cases. However it is concerning that parental withdrawal for secondary school pupils has been voted through by the Lords and the Commons. We would now welcome discussions around what is an appropriate age for young people to make their own decisions to attend SRE lessons if their parents object.

All young people deserve to receive accurate and consistent information about sex and relationships. If they are missing out on key lessons for any reason, we will not realise the full impact of mandatory Sex and Relationships Education on their mental, sexual, and reproductive health.

We know what SRE can achieve from both a public health perspective and on a personal and individual level. Now we must ensure every young person has the opportunity to benefit from it.

Michael Brady, Medical Director, Terrence Higgins Trust.

Competing interests: None declared.