UK schools fail kids on sex abuse
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UK schools are failing to protect children from unwanted explicit photos, videos and comments in a culture where online sexual harassment is now seen as normal, a government watchdog said yesterday.
The report by Ofsted, based on testimony from hundreds of children, was 鈥渧ery concerning,鈥 Education Minister Gavin Williamson tweeted.
Despite the scale of the problem, school heads and teachers 鈥渃onsistently underestimated the prevalence of online sexual abuse,鈥 the schools inspection body said.
The report comes after the Everyone鈥檚 Invited website posted thousands of anonymous accounts of sexual abuse and harassment at British schools, drawing government attention to the problem.
鈥淐hildren and young people told us that sexual harassment occurs so frequently that it has become 鈥榗ommonplace,鈥欌 said Ofsted.
Such behavior is so common that schools should assume it is happening, whether or not children report it to teachers, Ofsted said.
鈥淪ome forms of sexual harassment and online sexual abuse have become so normalized for children that they do not see the point in reporting and challenging this behavior,鈥 it said.
Almost 90 percent of girls and nearly 50 percent of boys said they or their peers regularly received unwanted explicit photos and videos, it said. 鈥淪exist name-calling,鈥 including use of words like 鈥渟lag鈥 and 鈥渟lut,鈥 happens often, according to 92 percent of girls.
Such behavior included sharing porn videos and photographs of male genitalia on social media such as Snapchat, it said. Those aged 16 and over were more likely to report such experiences.
Ofsted said it drew on comments by more than 900 children at 32 schools and colleges, including Everyone鈥檚 Invited. That site was set up by Soma Sara, a young graduate who attended a top private school, and now includes more than 15,000 testimonies.
Sex education should include discussions of issues such as consent and sending of nude images, the watchdog said.
But the watchdog said children being exposed to pornography and pressured to send nude selfies was 鈥渁 much wider problem than schools can address,鈥 urging the government to focus on protecting children in a planned Online Safety Bill.
The education minister said the government was giving extra support to safeguarding staff and increasing guidance on relationships, health and sex education.
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