Perennial ‘Guardian’ Subtext: “It’s Teh Wimminz Are Hardest Hit, Innit?”

Lola Okolosie on the dilemma facing school teachers:

Sexting, or what teenagers apparently call “dodgy pix”, “nudes” or “nude selfies” – not that I’ve ever heard them do that – is becoming standard practice among this age group.

So..?

This announcement comes from the government’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) which is worried that most who do so are unaware that their actions could result in a criminal conviction.

A bit late for them to worry about this, since they are instrumental in lobbying for the sort of approach that leads to kids being banged up for playing vittual ‘doctor’…

The training given to teachers on sex and relationship education is either nonexistent or inadequate and we are left to muddle our own way through, should the topic present itself.

Aren’t you paid enough to think on your feet, then? Are you only capable of doing what you’re told, and not on building on – and thereby enhancing – your basic training?

How, for example, is the reality of sexting affecting young people’s emotional wellbeing and their educational attainment? And before the rolled eyes or exasperated sighs of “we can’t be surprised young people are obsessed with sex”, let us pause to consider how it might feel to know that five of your colleagues in the office have circulated a picture of your breasts or a dick pic.

That wouldn’t happen. Because there are no such pictures. Maybe that should be the first lesson you impart to your cherubs?

In the vacuum created by not providing personal social and health education (PSHE), this is increasingly the experience of our young people. And, as with most things in society, there is a heavy gender imbalance. According to the NSPCC, where sexting is concerned girls are “the most adversely affected” .

*sighs* Of course they are…

What the NSPCC finds is that, yes, sexting is an expression of burgeoning tween/teenage sexuality. But it is also, all too often, linked to harassment, bullying, control and violence. It objectifies and is largely coercive.

*sighs* Of course it is…

Teachers, parents and, crucially, young people themselves, need sex and relationship education to be made compulsory. This is the only way to ensure that schools give it proper curriculum time.

“We only do what we’re told…when we are employed to teach others to think for themselves.”

We know young people are interested in sex, so educating them on these issues shouldn’t be about finger-wagging moralising.

So telling kids ‘Look, take a snapshot of your private parts & send them to your babyfather/current shag and you can’t be surprised if they suddenly aren’t so private’ is ‘finger wagging moralising’ in the ‘Guardian’s playbook, is it?