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Government consultation on sex education – Outspoken responses

Nov 13, 2018
31 min

Government consultation on sex education – Outspoken responses

A crucial turning point for sex education in the UK was 7 November 2018, the deadline for the Department for Education's consultation about its proposed new guidance for relationships and sex education (RSE). The last time sex education was updated was the year 2000 – before the advent of smartphones and online porn. This consultation allowed everyone – adults, young people, parents, teachers – to have their say on what is important to include in sex ed, and to emphasise the

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Candy shop, self-harm, easy, a void: how children see porn

Jun 11, 2018
6 min

Candy shop, self-harm, easy, a void: how children see porn

We are, all of us, among the first generations to be vulnerable to and blindsided by an easy access to porn. In some American states pornography has, controversially, been labelled a public-health risk and even a public-health crisis. It’s hard to contest the fact that porn is now a safeguarding issue and a mental-health issue because it invades – often uninvited – children’s developing minds, sexuality and identity. One way to counter the normalisation of pornography is by m

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WOW: The lowdown on sex ed

Mar 16, 2018
7 min

WOW: The lowdown on sex ed

The full-on three-day WOW (Women of the World) festival, now in its eighth great year at London’s Southbank Centre, is galvanising and uplifting – a rush of input, ideas and exchange. This year I’m on a mission to navigate the seemingly hundreds of workshops, theatre, comedy and music events by targeting discussions around sex-ed topics. My daughter, age 12, is amenable to coming along on Saturday on condition that she’s accompanied by a friend. They arrive in time to hear a

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Up against it: the urgency of confronting children’s exposure to pornography

Dec 19, 2017
4 min

Up against it: the urgency of confronting children’s exposure to pornography

Never having grown up with an endless supply of explicit sexual images at the touch of a mobile phone or on screens in their own homes, today’s adults can be in denial about the extent to which their digital-native children have to confront and negotiate their way around pornography. Unequipped to talk openly about it, many parents stay silent and teachers often feel too awkward to have honest conversations with students. Pornography underpins a multitude of interrelated conc

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