'We are dealing with a crisis’
Head, Nick Hewlett, to tell education leaders as St Dunstan’s College prepares to host groundbreaking conference...
St Dunstan’s College, Catford, south-east London, has recently announced it will host a conference to tackle the growing teen pornography crisis.
The groundbreaking conference titled ‘Let’s Talk About… Porn, Sex and Educating for the Difference’ will take place in London in June and gather school heads, leaders and educators from across the country. The event will aim to educate delegates on the online reality today’s children live in, and to open an earnest discussion about what can be done to tackle the pornography crisis.
‘We are dealing with a crisis’, says Nick Hewlett, head at St Dunstan’s College.
‘We know that children access pornography online, often at a very young age. The online space has become extremely sexualised and it is there where children spend most of their time today. As educators, we have a duty of care to help young people navigate this reality, to have the difficult and awkward conversations. Schools today need to do
more than just pass on the knowledge; they need to support children’s emotional development too.
‘The conference is about educating the educators. Children do not have the tools to navigate this overwhelming new reality, and the older generations are often simply unfamiliar with the scale of the risk and the impact adult content has on children. It is dangerous to give into the illusion that if educators don’t have these conversations with students, the problem will disappear. These conversations, and sharing of image and videos, will continue to take place between peers with or without adult supervision, and we remain responsible for guiding them through difficulties we as adults never had to face’.
According to the Children’s Commissioner’s Report published in January 2023, half of children who had seen pornography had seen it by the age of 13. 79% had encountered violent pornography before the age of 18.
A worrying 47% of all respondents in the Children’s Commissioner’s stated that girls expect sex to involve violence, especially strangulation. Exchange of nude photos and sending of unsolicited explicit images has become commonplace among school students. The 2020 initiative Everyone’s Invited brought to light the extent of sexual harassment at schools and it is hard not to notice the link with the staggering influence of porn on young people. While the organisers of the conference believe that policy changes to curtail underage access to adult content are necessary and important, it is crucial that educators and parents alike understand the scale of the problem which might not disappear completely with the introduction of age verification.
Speakers will include Nick Hewlett, head at St Dunstan’s College, Chanel Contos, founder of Teach Us Consent, Cindy Gallop, creator of MakeLoveNotPorn and Jess Alder, program director of the Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationship Initiative at the Boston Public Health Commission.
Earlier this month, it was announced St Dunstan’s Head, Nick Hewlett, had been nominated for Headteacher of the Year (Independent) at the upcoming Tes Schools Awards 2023. Speaking about the news, Nick explained: ‘I feel humbled and a little surprised to be shortlisted for Headteacher of the Year (Independent)! St Dunstan’s has been on an extraordinary journey in recent years, and I am proud of the way we are trailblazing so much within our sector, however this really has been an enormous community effort. My deepest gratitude goes to everyone who has been part of creating such an exciting trajectory.’
Last year, St Dunstan’s was named Independent Senior School of the Year at the Tes Schools Awards, which are known as the Oscars of education. Along with Headteacher of the Year, St Dunstan’s Junior School has also been nominated for Prep School of the Year at the ceremony.
The upcoming conference will take place at Mansion House on Tuesday 20 June 2023. Further information and booking can be found at www.stdunstans.org.uk/lets-talk-about-porn