How Does Society Protect Girls from Boys Sharing Their Naked Photos at School?

The world was shocked when Sarah Everard was murdered walking home around Clapham Common – and I wrote about it emotionally as my daughter lives, runs & socialises there too.

It moved many women to speak up and to speak out.

In the wake of that, & after a week in which the policeman Wayne Couzens admitted to killing and raping Sarah Everard, a report commissioned after the Everyone’s Invited testimonies has revealed the very depressing culture that girls have to endure in schools.

Sexual harassment is ‘normalised’ for children in schools, according to ‘shocking’ Ofsted report.

Girls are asked for nude photos by up to 11 boys a night and boys are sharing naked pictures of girls at school like ‘Football Stickers’ finds Ofsted report

The school watchdog, which spoke to over 900 children and young people, discovered the intimate images are routinely shared on platforms like WhatsApp or Snapchat.

Ofsted’s report found sexual harassment of students in schools and colleges in the UK is “normalised” with girls warning teachers do not understand “the reality” of their lives.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/naked-pictures-schools-ofsted-b1862670.html

The report was commissioned after the website Everyone’s Invited recorded thousands of testimonies from children, mostly girls, who claimed to have been abused by their peers in school.

Many teachers said they do not feel prepared to teach outside their subject specialism, or lack knowledge on topics like consent, healthy relationships and sharing of sexual images.

The government needs to look at online bullying and abuse, and the ease with which children can access pornography.

But schools and colleges have a key role to play. They can maintain the right culture in their corridors, and they can provide relationship, sex and health education that reflects reality and equips young people with the information they need.

Kids are obviously living in a parallel universe as parents, teachers and schools can’t monitor what kids are seeing, sending and doing BUT we can talk and teach boys to respect girls and empower girls to speak up and speak out – we can also train teachers and schools how to shift this culture and  if we do not get a grip on this issue we are severely failing another generation of young people and storing up problems for the future.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jun/10/sexual-harassment-is-a-routine-part-of-life-schoolchildren-tell-ofsted

It’s alarming and NOT acceptable that many children and young people, particularly girls, feel they have to accept sexual harassment as part of growing up.

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When children seek attention, they are seeking connection & recognition.

Connection seeking behaviours can be unwanted or difficult to deal with but change your mindset & view of them because they are behaviours that express your child’s need to belong.

Change how you see them so you are better equipped to deal with their behaviours more positively as you understand why they’re happening.

Pause to Ponder 🤔

Maybe you’re on your phone, answering emails or busy but your child is really asking for your TIME.

Take stock of what you do well and appreciate the relationships and the connections you have with your children.

In western culture, contemporary women are held back by an idealised version of motherhood that was created in the Victorian age. This was usually a middle-class woman who stayed at home with her children, who didn’t work outside the home, and who’s primary worthiness came from being a mother.

That worthiness was measured by the “successes” of her children.

Two centuries later, we are still being judged based on what our children do, and not based on who we are as individuals. This is harmful for all mums & the media feed into it in adverts!

Jot down every night what you do well, & what you get right so you all asleep positively & after a week you’ll see lots of positives to celebrate 🎉 It will build back your confidence

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