IQ is calling on schools to appoint preventive relationship prevention leaders based on the success of mental health coordinators, as teachers say they are not enough to advise on the complex issues involved.

A study by the Ministry of Home Affairs-backed Youth Endowment Foundation (YEF) hopes young teens in England and Wales receive a “course to prevent relationship violence” that addresses emotional, physical and sexual violence, psychological abuse, stalking and harassment.

Although there have been legal guidance on teaching, sexual and health education in England since 2020, YEF CEO Jon Yates said too many students are still not taught on how to recognize healthy and unhealthy relationships or how to get rid of disruptive relationships.

As a first step, YEF recommends taking a pilot program to “violence against women and girls”, training or external support, offering £8,000 to secondary schools and ensuring upgrades to relationship classes.

“One of the biggest challenges surrounding implementation when these courses are offered across schools is to get teachers to convince them that it’s happening to children and we need to focus on that,” Yates said.

"But schools usually have a little nervous about them having these meetings. They don't want to advertise to expectant parents because they may have problems with relationship violence. But, the point is, it's everywhere."

YEF's study found that nearly one-third of teachers attended RSHE courses and they never received any training, while more than a quarter said they were unsure of teaching their children how to leave unhealthy relationships. Almost half of the people say that if children witnessed sexual assault, they work hard to explain how to intervene.

Lucy Emmerson, CEO of the Sex Education Forum, said its research found that despite the recent improvements in the course, only 50% of young people said their RSH-level courses may be very good.

"Young people say that topics like adolescence are really good, to some extent, but to some extent topics like consent. But, topics like pornography and imbalances in relationships, which are topics that young people often say are not sufficient or not covered."

“It’s usually what parents say is different from what they encountered as kids – they may remember their sex education being very technical, focusing on adolescence and biology, rather than ‘how do I feel?’ “How do I manage my feelings? ” “How do I deal with rejection?

Topics include how to identify signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships and how to get help when needed, which Emerson says is an important building skill for building friendships as well as personal or sexual relationships. However, difficulties remain in obtaining the training and investment required by teachers.

“To do well in what’s called difficult topics, teachers need to be confident in this subject area, and they need to be able to have high quality and open discussions with students, not just fact-based teaching,” Emerson said.

“Children and young people benefit greatly from listening, sympathizing, respecting each other, negotiating and understanding their emotions and expressing their skills. It’s not just learning some facts, but learning how to behave and respond.”