It’s the sort of news almost guaranteed to get the smoke coming out of middle England’s ears at maximum velocity, writes Jon Simcock.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence wants to start giving sex and relationship lessons to children as young as five. (See the story and video here.)

That’s CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS FIVE.

It will undoubtedly mark the end of civilisation as we know it.

Our youngsters will be hopelessly corrupted by the governing elite and as a result will fall into lives of cheap, meaningless casual sex which leave them unfit for any proper role in society.

The self-loathing this brings on will lead them to drugs, which in turn will lead them to crime, which in turn will see our prisons filling up with a lost generation.

All because a nice teacher told them when they were just five years old that sometimes Daddy and Mummy enjoyed special cuddles.

At least that’s the way a certain sector of society will see it.

In reality, of course, things are very different.

Which is more likely to lead youngsters into a life of sexual mistakes – the hopelessly outdated Victorian view of sex peddled by one part of the British media, or a bit of honesty with our children in teaching them about sex?

As a country we have become obsessed with ‘protecting’ our children to the point of draining all the joy out of life.

We see paedophiles on every corner and mortal danger in every possible situation.

Parents hover over their youngsters afraid to let them out of their sight in case something awful happens and they have to live with the consequences.

We are so afraid of what MIGHT happen we fail to let our children have the childhood we all enjoyed.

Well, here’s a simple truth about life. Awful things have always happened and always will happen. People have coped in the past, and they will certainly cope in the future.

Embrace life and let your children live it.

That way, they may just learn the most valuable lessons of all.