Milan City Council calls for a national law for affective and sex education in schools A proposal to fill a legislative gap and ensure equal educational rights for all students
There’s a kind of education that never makes it into Italian classrooms, and it’s no oversight. It’s a structural, political, and cultural absence. It’s called sexual and emotional education, and today it remains a sporadic, localized exception, when it’s not openly opposed. But Milan has decided it’s time to stop waiting. With the approval of a motion spearheaded by Democratic Party councillor Diana De Marchi, President of the Equal Opportunities and Civil Rights Commission, the Milan City Council has officially called on the Government and Parliament to pass a national law making education on emotional awareness, respect, and sexuality mandatory in all Italian schools. This is not just a symbolic step, it is a political and civic stance, a clear denunciation of the legal and cultural void that leaves Italy trailing at the bottom of Europe.
A matter of educational democracy
Italy is one of the last six countries in the European Union, alongside Bulgaria, Cyprus, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania, without a mandatory national curriculum for emotional and sexual education in schools. It's not a surprising fact, but it is a heavy one: every year, alarming statistics recur, early pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, persistent gender stereotypes, and poor or nonexistent use of condoms among youth (only 6 out of 10 teenagers use them), while we continue to pretend that education can exclude the intimate, relational, and physical spheres. De Marchi is clear: “There can be no real education without emotional education. Teaching mutual respect, awareness of one's body, and one’s feelings is essential to prevent violence, discrimination, and distress. It’s a civic, social, and educational duty.” These are not just words, they translate into concrete administrative action: the city administration is called to promote these initiatives even without a national law, in collaboration with schools, anti-violence centers, and healthcare professionals.
The big taboo in Italian schools
Sex education in Italy remains a major taboo, an “uncomfortable” issue, postponed, obstructed. And when it is proposed, it immediately runs into the barrier of parental consent, as outlined in the draft bill approved in April 2025 by the Council of Ministers. This bill, backed by the right-wing government, introduces an opt-in mechanism: courses are only available with the informed and prior consent of families, and alternative activities are required for those who do not participate. A legislative structure explicitly designed to weaken any structured approach to emotional education from the outset. But why this fear? Why such suspicion toward an education that, as the World Health Organization and UNESCO have long recommended, helps prevent unwanted pregnancies, abuse, bullying, gender stereotypes, and inequality? According to a 2019 survey by the Ministry of Health, over 80% of Italian teenagers want schools to provide sexual and emotional education. A recent Coop-Nomisma survey says 70% of Italians would like it to become a mandatory subject. And yet, nothing is changing.
Milan breaks the deadlock
Once again, Milan chooses to act independently. The motion passed on July 7, 2025, is both symbolic and political: Palazzo Marino becomes the voice of an entire generation's demand. It calls for a national law, but it doesn’t wait for one. In doing so, the city sketches out a new model of schooling that doesn’t stop at teaching formulas or dates but takes on the task, the responsibility, of educating conscious individuals, capable of cultivating healthy, violence-free relationships. The approved motion urges the government to fill a legislative gap that produces educational inequalities: allowing voluntary courses to be offered at the discretion of individual schools means perpetuating a two-speed school system, where the most vulnerable areas, suburbs, small towns, are left behind. An education that truly reaches everyone must be guaranteed, free of charge, and evenly distributed across the national territory. Emotional education is not a luxury for city centers, it’s a right.
A call that’s also a challenge
Italy needs a school system that helps students grow, even in areas we often prefer to ignore: the body, emotions, relationships. Milan has made it clear: ignoring all this means leaving young people alone in front of the internet, stereotypes, violence, and emotional distress. And there’s no more time to postpone. Behind this motion lies a desire to build a new kind of education, one that doesn’t censor desire, but guides it; doesn’t fear differences, but names them; doesn’t repress, but listens. A school that doesn’t just teach students to be learners, but to be people. Milan has sent a clear message to Rome: now it’s up to Parliament and the Government to respond. With a law. With courage. With respect.
