Growing up in the Online World – Acknowledging Attitudes and Practices of today's Internet-savvy children and it's impact on their lives.
Supporting Sex and Relationships Education in schools
Peter Bower, Online Safety Consultant with the UK Safer Internet Centre and South West Grid for Learning, and former Child Protection Officer and SRE Coordinator in a large Comprehensive School, discusses the impact of the Internet on the way young people develop sexually and calls on schools to make a culture change.
The development of new technologies, and especially the phenomenal growth in the use of hand-held devices has changed the way in which children and young people develop today. Crucial decisions and judgements we made as teenagers before the digital age appear now to have been somehow more innocent, more naïve, less public, but probably just as life changing. The Internet now plays a huge role in the lives of our growing children and young people. Adults, including parents and carers, teachers, youth workers and health professionals, find themselves in a situation where the children appear to be better able to use the technology, more confident in employing the internet as a learning and communication tool, and more proficient in exploiting the online world to satisfy curiosity and natural inquisitiveness; the same characteristics we displayed back in the good old pre-Internet days. However lacking in digital confidence we, the adults in children's lives, may be; what we do possess is a far superior understanding of risk; an ability, developed over a lifetime, to process inappropriate content and behaviour, and strategies to deal with things when they go wrong. Surely, we should be bringing these into this digital age to support our children and young people in their development? Schools have really taken on board E-safety and recognise that the safeguarding of children and young people is a priority. However what schools miss is the impact the Internet has on the development of their learners.
We have focussed too much on E-safety being just about online predators.
Adults who work with children, whilst simultaneously trying to cope with their own knowledge and skills in the online world, struggle with how to educate children effectively about being safe online. The internet is not just about predators and privacy, it is a very public place where life is shared, judged and sadly sometimes torn to shreds. It is also an encyclopedia of information and misinformation. An unfiltered internet search of the word “porn” will provide the reader with every possible sexual category and lead the naïve searcher into a dark and extreme world. Young people are naturally curious and risk averse. This new world persuades and breaks down inhibitions. We need to challenge these new perceptions by bringing them into the SRE arena. But first we must acknowledge that the online world is having an ever-increasing impact on the social and emotional development of our children and young people.
A new study conducted by UK Safer Internet Centre and Plymouth University and supported by the NSPCC reveals new concerns and trends in ‘sexting’ amongst teenagers[1]. 'Sexting' is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photographs, primarily between mobile phones. http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/news/11th-december-new-sexting-research-out-today The qualitative study engaged with 120 13-14 year olds and 30 10-11 year olds.. There are some clear messages that schools and those in schools who deliver SRE need to consider:
· Young people think that issues around sexualised online content (both pornography and self-generated content) should be discussed in school.
· Sexting is considered almost routine for many 13-14 year olds.
· Young people are unwilling to turn to adults for help due to fear of being judged.
· Younger children (10-11 years olds) are still largely safe from exposure to sexualised content.
We need to acknowledge that young people, powered by a communication revolution, use the online world in their developing relationships. At the centre of this revolution lies a powerful driver; the desire to communicate; to communicate with your social circle, however small or large, in ways unimaginable 10 years ago. The online world has changed the very nature of relationships, how they are formed, how they change, their time-scale and immediacy, and, of course, depending on your Facebook or Twitter settings, their privacy and publicity. The word ”friend” and, by implication, friendship now means something entirely different to a generation brought up living in online spaces, whether in a Social Network, a chat environment, a gaming environment or a virtual learning environment.
We need, therefore, to cultivate a culture where children accept responsibility for what they do online, where conversations are transparent, where bullying is seen as wrong and where children are supported in recognising the inappropriate. We need to build in children a resilience to the content they encounter online, a resilience to contact from those who might harm them and an understanding of the implications of their own conduct online..
Jon Brown, sexual abuse lead at the NSPCC, says of the report:
“We are starting to see the regular and normalised consumption of hardcore pornography among young people and this has led to the sharing of explicit self-generated sexual imagery.
“Good quality sex education is absolutely critical. It needs to be age-appropriate, but if we are to be able to help young people navigate their way through these pressures, it also needs to start in primary school. We need to teach young people about respecting themselves and respecting each other.”
We, as adults, need to understand the importance of technology and to support and guide children and young people to use critical thinking skills in their decision making online as well as in the “real world”. We need to acknowledge that young teenagers will try to access pornography online. We need to give them the understanding that what they actually see online might not depict healthy relationships; that sexual violence or aggression, that multiple partners or a certain body image is not the norm. If we do not face these issues then who will?
Professor Andy Phippen of Plymouth University, Author of the study says:
“We have worked with eight schools across the South West to better understand the issues and influences around sexting and have spoken to 150 young people in detail. What is clear from this work is that sexting is almost routine in the lives of many 14 year olds and it is something they address with their friends. They are highly unlikely to turn to an adult for fear of being judged. However, what is also clear is that they are willing to talk about these issues if done in a supportive and sensitive manner and it is something all the young people we spoke to felt should be addressed in school."
Sex and Relationships Education in schools – the role of the health professional.
So how can we set up these “supportive and sensitive” environments? The picture in schools is mixed. There are many schools where Sex and Relationships Education is delivered by a highly trained few, where health professionals are brought in to provide the “healthy” aspect of the SRE. However, it is quite often the case that the young people do not feel confident discussing “sex” with their teachers, who often hold positions of authority and who have parental contact. Health Professionals, especially School Nurses have a particular role and very often the kudos in schools to act as a “trusted” adult. Children and young people are very much more trusting of someone who is not in a position to judge them or talk to their parents.
Discussion and negotiation must take place between all those who can input into this challenging new arena. SRE coordinators and pastoral staff need to sit down with health professionals to work out exactly what support they can provide each other in the classroom and how best they can encourage children and young people to explore their own perceptions and views and make those healthy life style decisions that is at the very heart of Personal Social Health Education. Communication with parents/carers and Governors is vital. Young people themselves tell us how much they value single-sex sessions as they give them more confidence to report what they see online and to challenge their peers and to decide on the appropriateness of what they see. It is exactly in these sessions that the health professional or school nurse has such a powerful role to play and where often the teacher takes a back seat.
E-safety - “E” for Empowerment!
New technologies are here to stay and will continue to develop and schools need to empower children not just to use the technology to learn but also to:
- use the technology to communicate sensibly and safely,
- recognise inappropriate content, contact and conduct
- recognise boundaries online as well as offline
- see the technology as supporting them in their own development,
- make the decisions and choices about how they can safely use it.
- seek non-judgemental help or support when things go wrong.
The engagement of schools in this is pivotal, but the picture at the moment is at best patchy. The nature of Sex Education changed in the late 90s when Sex and Relationships Education became part of the PSHE framework for schools. In other words, the teaching of issues related to sex came out of the science classroom and into areas where young people were allowed to explore and discuss; to learn about issues such as contraception, sexuality, body image,STIs and STDs. These issues are still at the heart of SRE; but children's views, perceptions and attitudes are increasingly shaped by their own online experiences, which impacts hugely on their own understanding of privacy, intimacy, confidentiality, respect, self-esteem, and responsibility. These are not issues for IT teachers. They are issues for trained professionals who can gauge best when to allow discussion about inappropriate sites and images, who know best when to intervene in debate, who can professionally use words and language that children and young people relate to. Most important of all, these are issues for adults who are not seen to judge the young people.
The most successful schools are proactive in their SRE work, and include online safety and responsibility. There is strong leadership in SRE; children and young people are given a voice and issues may be tackled by supportive, non judgemental adults and through peer mentor schemes. Most important of all, there is recognition that health professionals and school nurses have a pivotal role within the classroom.
Where to now?
Technologically; towards a world of Augmented Reality, to a world where the global games industry makes more money than Hollywood, to a world where communication is immediate, visual and not through the press of a button but by the slide of a finger or a voice cue.
Schools must acknowledge the impact of the online world on their learners, must embed within SRE, opportunities for children and young people to voice their own fears and concerns. They must encourage critical thought about what is appropriate and what is not. Schools must also ask the young people themselves what is relevant. The answers will surprise some because it is so often the young people themselves who protest at inappropriate behaviour on Facebook, who complain about racist or sexist attitudes in chat environments, who support each other when the going gets tough and, who desperately need guidance in the sexual maze of the Internet.
Are we having an impact on the lives of children and young people in the online world? It is a long process and difficult to assess. However, we ought perhaps to consider the history of SRE. The revolution in Sex Education in the last twenty years has shifted the culture to a greater understanding of the importance of relationships education; the approach to fundamental issues about growing up has changed. In February 2012 the Office for
National Statistics published figures showing the lowest teenage pregnancy rate for 40 years[2], the result of a joint approach from schools, health services and contraception advice services. Not a massive decrease but a move in the right direction. The digital revolution is here, and we need an innovative, challenging approach to SRE, where all those who work with and care for children and young people can impact positively on the lives, online and offline, of our children and young people.
[1] Sexting: An Exploration of Practices, Attitudes and Influences. Professor Andy Phippen. Dec 2012
[2] Office for National Statistics, Conception Statistics, England and Wales, 2010