Children as young as 11 who demonstrate misogynistic behaviour will be taught the difference between pornography and real relationships, as part of a multimillion-pound investment to tackle misogyny in England’s schools, the Guardian understands.
On the eve of the government publishing its long-awaited strategy to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade, David Lammy told the Guardian that the battle “begins with how we raise our boys”, adding that toxic masculinity and keeping girls and women safe were “bound together”.
As part of the government’s flagship strategy, which was initially expected in the spring, teachers will be able to send young people at risk of causing harm on behavioural courses, and will be trained to intervene if they witness disturbing or worrying behaviour.
I think any time they could be exposed to something is the time to educate them about it. If that was even younger, that would be fine. Even very basic sex education can be taught to very young children to help keep them safe from abuse. Not talking about things openly, using scientific vocabulary, is a big problem.
Parental controls are excellent to stop “accidental” discovery, but at some point they will seek stuff out, and proper education should exist before that point. If parents are too embarrassed? ashamed? to have that conversation, it falls to the school/state/etc.
Parents not using parental controls are in my mind the same ones who would have been similarly oblivious or negligent in the past, I don’t think the technology has anything to do with it, except statistically volume and ease of access increases necessity. I don’t think I would blame tech companies any more than magazine publishers.
To be clear, it’s not that I oppose teaching sex ed at all. It needs to happen, because kids find it on their own. It’s just that it’s disappointing that society has come to the point where we need to discuss kinks with prepubescents. I don’t think their brains are developed enough to comprehend the complex decision process behind getting tied up and whipped, which I think partly this article is seeking to address.
It’s just a sad comment on society, I think. I want to have a healthy open dialogue with my kids about sex. The porn genie isn’t going back in the bottle.
It’s been my limited experience that parental controls are pretty strong these days. I think that a really key difference circles back to the social media exposure discussion. Sure, they seek it out eventually, but with always on social media they’re going to find out about things a lot earlier than they need to, which is why I also called out the social media companies for their unethical behaviour.