In fact, they think everybody should do it.

A sigh of relief passed through the 23 students after they walked out of the three-hour exam on Friday afternoon, but for Zachary Barnes, much of the content was very useful for life after school.

“It’s pretty good for a compulsory subject. The fact that everybody has to do it, means everybody is in it together,” he said.

The toughest question on the exam for most students was “What are the positive implications for a male in a social parenting role for the male and his children?”

Student Timothy Anikin explained that a social parent was a non-biological parent, but rather one by surrogacy, adoption or a step-parent.

“I just talked about the male filling the role of a social parent, providing stability and forms of comfort for the child. For the male, it provides self-esteem and a sense of worth in the community,” he said.

The subject covers a range of  topics, including individuals and work, parenting and caring, rights, responsibilities and issues in community and family life.

Annalise Barnes said the subject had helped her consider the ethical and moral questions that could pop up in later life.

“It makes you think about things like when does life start? It lets you think about it, if your friend or whatever had an abortion, you already know about those moral issues,” she said.

One of the oddest things students said they had covered over the course of the subject was assisted birth technologies.

“It’s about IVF and GIFT, and the ethical things, like what do you do when eggs are left over if a parent dies,” Timothy said.

But for all Orange Christian School students, the advice and information they learned would continue to be invaluable.

“It’s a really relevant subject. It’s relevant for a lot of jobs, a lot of roles. It’s relevant to everybody, because everyone’s part of the community,” student Nicole Filmer said.

alexandra.king@fairfaxmedia.com.au