My school provided its sixth-formers with something called liberal studies. In these lessons we discussed issues of concern to 16-year-olds.

I still remember what I learnt about sex. Under a certain circumstance, it is a beautiful thing. This circumstance was not alleged to be marriage. Our teachers were not there to preach Christian ethics at us. Goodness me, no. The special circumstance, we learnt, was love. Sex with someone you do not love is a nasty business.

This is not true, I later discovered. Sex with a person, or group of people, whom you do not love can be a very nice business indeed. I do not know if the teachers who told me otherwise were lying or simply ignorant. And I do not much care. The moment someone decided that our teachers should tell us the circumstances in which sex is to be recommended, we were in for a large dose of humbug.

As will be primary schoolchildren if Gordon Brown has his way and they are taught about drug abuse – a plan he announced last week. Can you imagine a teacher telling children the truth? “Well, kids, snorting cocaine is illegal, expensive and, like some other things you might do, such as skiing and giving birth, it involves health risks. But, by God, it feels fantastic. You will just have to try it and see if the pleasure is worth the costs.”

Politicians cannot resist the temptation presented by compulsory education and a national curriculum. All those little minds just waiting to be formed. Let’s do what people are always calling for and teach them the difference between right and wrong. That will fix society.

Alas, neither politicians nor teachers know what the difference between right and wrong is. If one does, I suggest he write an account of it for publication in The Journal of Philosophy. He will soon be acclaimed the greatest philosopher in history.

What politicians really know is simply what they do or do not approve of. (For the overconfident, this is easily confused with knowing the difference between right and wrong.) And what they would have teachers impart to children is not any real knowledge but only their own values. They want their preferences – for things like loving sex and chemical abstinence (at least in others) – to be made universal by means of the education system.

Mr Brown is so hooked on this abuse of schools that he has suggested they teach an heroic version of history that will make everyone share his high opinion of Britain. Let us hope that these lessons are given a special name, such as “social democracy studies”. Then children will be able to tell when they have temporarily been transferred from a school to a propaganda camp.

Jamie Whyte is author of Bad Thoughts: A Guide to Clear Thinking

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