“It shouldn’t be a taboo. It should be something that parents
talk about to their children.” Teenager.
Today the Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, urges
parents to talk to any of their children who have access to the
online world about online sexual harassment and online
pornography, saying:
Talk early, and talk often
Don’t judge, but listen
Learn as much as you advise
Her office has produced a guide with the help of teens and young
adults on how to do this.
Young people shared their advice on the things they
wish their parents had known before they went
online.
A surprising but overriding message from those young people was
that parents should start these understandably challenging
conversations early. They suggested broaching topics before a
child is given a phone or a social media account, which is often
around the age of 9 or 10.
With Christmas coming, and with their first smartphones and
tablets on many children’s wish-lists, our teens and young adults
advise parents to start an age-appropriate conversation
now about the potential risks, and benefits, of the
online world. This conversation should evolve over time, in line
with the child’s growing maturity.
The guide “The things I wish my parents had known: A
guide from teens and young adults on dealing with sexual
harassment online” tackles a number of issues that
have been highlighted in the “Everyone’s Invited” movement and
picked up in Ofsted’s June 2021 review of sexual abuse in schools
and colleges. The Ofsted review highlighted just how commonplace
sexual harassment is for children and teenagers, and how rarely
these issues are taken seriously by adults. It concluded: “It
is concerning that for some children, incidents are so
commonplace that they see no point in reporting them”.
The Commissioner’s guide covers features of the online world
which influence and facilitate sexual harassment between children
and teens, including:
- far too easily accessed online pornography
- pressure to send nude pictures
- sexualised bullying
- editing pictures and body image
- peer pressure
Though these can be difficult topics and should be tackled
carefully our group of young people were very clear that it is
really important for them to be having the conversations all the
same. They also want parents to be better informed about the
risks of the online world and how to prevent early exposure to
harmful content, including online pornography. Young people also
warn that parents should know how to provide support and seek
help if their child needs it, including knowing where to report
incidents of online sexual abuse.
Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, DBE,
said:
“My advice to parents and carers is to create the
culture before the crisis. Children have told us they
want their mums and dads to create a safe, judgment-free space
for them to talk about these issues. It’s better to do that
before you hit a problem rather than trying to create that mood
while you’re dealing with one or discovering later that
they hadn’t felt able to tell you.
“It takes a lot of bravery for a child to share their
experiences of abuse or harassment. Parents and carers are
telling me they want to match that bravery in getting to grips
with these issues.”
The guide is published just a few weeks after the Commissioner
convened a meeting including the Secretary of State for Digital,
Culture, Media and Sport and the Secretary of State for
Education, with the Children’s Minister where representatives of
six of the major tech companies and platforms in this field were
urged to do far more to protect children from inappropriate
content and harm before a strengthened Online Safety Bill became
law. More details of that meeting are below
NOTES TO EDITORS
The six companies who attended the meeting with Secretaries of
State, Children’s Commissioner and Children’s minister were
Apple, TikTok, Meta, Youtube, Snap and Twitter. At that meeting
there was agreement to
- further steps all can take to help keep children safe online
– ahead of the Online Safety Bill coming into effect.
- Tech companies have pledged to work with the Children’s
Commissioner’s Office to identify further information they can
usefully share with the Commissioner in a way which respects
people's privacy, regarding children on their platforms and the
nature of harms children may face.
- Work with tech firms to make available and visible resources
and tools for parents, teachers, and children to help young
people navigate the online world safely and support their
wellbeing and mental health.
Companies will meet formally with the Children’s Commissioner to
review progress in May 2022.
