Did you know that Twitter is the most common place for children to see pornography? A recent report from the Children’s Commissioner for England and Wales shows that 41% of children first see porn there rather than on porn sites.

As part of the Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week and #ChildrensMentalHealthweek, some excellent new resources have appeared to help parents understand and deal with online pornography which is a major driver of both of these issues. What can parents do to support online safety for their children?

First up is the new report, “A lot of it is actually just abuse – Young People and Pornography” by the Children’s Commission for England and Wales, Dame Rachel de Souza.

Some highlights are available on an excellent summary sheet.

 

Second, is the very informative YouTube video commissioned by the Financial Times called “Capture, who’s looking after the children?” It’s an FT drama starring Jodie Whittaker (Dr Who), Paul Ready (Motherland), Shaniqua Okwok (It’s a Sin), that looks at online harm, regulation and responsibility. The search for their missing son leads a mother and father to a tech company, and a digital gatekeeper who seems to have all the answers.

 

Third, here is an interview with our CEO Mary Sharpe and LBC’s Clare Foges as they talk about what parents need to do to deal with these challenging issues. In particular, they discussed the need for parents to educate themselves about how to look for effects on a child’s brain and behaviour. Clare Foges thinks parents should delay giving the child a phone for as long as possible. Mary also recommended our free parents’ guide to internet pornography with lots of helpful resources. See too our seven free lesson plans for schools to deal with sexting and the risks around porn use. Here is the section with Mary and Clare.

For the full programme discussion with members of the public calling in listen here. Mary’s is on from 2.56 to 9.36.

As a parent or carer you must educate yourself about what the issues are and how to speak to those in your care about how to protect themselves. There are many risks posed by pornography use both directly for a user, and indirectly through contact with those who are users and with whom you come into contact at school or work or socially.