Teachers discuss harms of porn at major educational conference

Teachers have warned about the effects of pornography on children at England’s National Education Union (NEU) annual conference.

Pupils were encouraged to share their concerns about pornography in anonymous letters to teachers in the run-up to the conference, and statements were collated.

One teacher, called by the pseudonym Emma, told the BBC that pupils had referenced strangulation and sex with animals, after seeing extreme content online.

She also expressed concern that pornography is behind sexist language being used by young boys in her school.

According to Ofsted, 90% of girls and almost 50% of boys have been sent pictures or videos of unwanted content from their peers, “a lot” or “sometimes”.

Last week, a coalition of charities and organisations, led by the Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation (CEASE) signed an open letter to the Prime Minister.

The letter, also signed by CARE, said that the government’s Online Safety Bill does not go far enough to protect children from online pornography.

The letter calls for regulator Ofcom to be granted powers to “commence business disruption measures” when websites fail to comply.

Vanessa Moore, Chief Executive of CEASE, remarks that one impact of pornography is “the prevalence of sexual harassment and abuse between schoolchildren.

She continues, “boys report that it’s the main way they know how to express their interest in a girl, and girls report that they feel under immense pressure to be ok with how they’re treated.”

CARE has been campaigning on this issue for many years and will continue to demand better protection from online harms for young people. Find out more on our website: care.org.uk/cause/online-safety.