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Mum asks for 'inappropriate' Sleeping Beauty to be struck from school curriculum

(Credit: Sarah Hall/Twitter)
(Credit: Sarah Hall/Twitter)

A mum from North Shields has asked her son’s primary school to take a book featuring the story from ‘Sleeping Beauty’ off the curriculum because it contains an ‘inappropriate sexual message’.

PR consultant Sarah Hall, who is a mum of two, said that her six-year-old son Ben was given the book to read, but she objected to the narrative that it’s OK to kiss women without consent.

“I think it’s a specific issue in the Sleeping Beauty story about sexual behaviour and consent,” she told the Daily Mirror.

“It’s about saying is this still relevant, is it appropriate?”

She later contacted the school and asked for the book to be removed from circulation in younger classes.

“In today’s society, it isn’t appropriate – my son is only six, he absorbs everything he sees, and it isn’t as if I can turn it into a constructive conversation,” she added.

“I don’t think taking Sleeping Beauty books out of circulation completely would be right. I actually think it would be a great resource for older children, you could have a conversation around it, you could talk about consent, and how the Princess might feel.

“But I’m really concerned about it for younger children, would really welcome a conversation about whether this is suitable material.”

According to the Mirror, Ms Hall said that it was the recent coverage of sexual abuse and the #MeToo campaign which caused her to question the appropriateness of the story.

“These are indicative of how ingrained that kind of behaviour is in society,” she went on. “All these small things build up, and they make a difference.”

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