Stonewall: Porn survey shows why we need better sex education in schools
A survey showing sexting is now part of “everyday life” for teenagers highlights the need for compulsory sex and relationships education, says Stonewall.
Research commissioned by the IPPR think tank found 80% of young people said it was too easy to stumble across explicit images and videos on the internet.
Almost half (46%) said the phenomenon of sexting, where people send explicit pictures of themselves to others, was “part of everyday life for teenagers nowadays”.
A majority said pornography was making life harder for adolescents and 70% said watching porn was seen as normal among their classmates at school.
Two-thirds also described porn as addictive. Stonewall, Britain’s largest gay rights charity, said the survey highlighted why the government needed to improve sex and relationships education.
Stonewall Head of Policy, James Taylor, told PinkNews.co.uk: “We know that, all too often, young lesbian, gay and bisexual people aren’t getting the information they need about sex and relationships.
“When those resources aren’t available, pornography can become the sole source of information for young people, setting wildly unreasonable expectations and standards.”
Mr Taylor added: “Schools urgently need to talk about what makes a healthy relationship so that young people can make safe and informed choices. Compulsory sex and relationship education needs to be the starting point for these conversations in schools.”
Under Michael Gove’s reign as Education Secretary, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats whipped their parliamentarians to vote against statutory PSHE.
Such a move could lead to the abandonment of the whipping arrangements, meaning Tory MPs who support the motion would be free to vote in favour.
