The research found teenagers were becoming sexualised at an earlier age because many were able to see pornography online
As a parent, there are some realities you'd rather not face up to. "Sexting"
is one of them. I was vaguely familiar with the term, but after a Channel
4 News investigation the brutal truth of what and how widespread it
is has been brought home to me.
For six months, we've teamed up with the NSPCC to speak to children between
the ages of 13 and 16. What we found will shock every parent.
"I get asked for naked pictures ... at least two or three times a week,"
one 15 year old girl told us. A boy the same age said: "You would have
seen a girl's breasts before you've seen their face."
Welcome to the world of "sexting" – sending
naked photos on mobile phones. A world that many
teenagers inhabit on a daily basis.
Professor Andy Phippen from Plymouth University carried out the
research for the NSPCC, and told us: "This is mainstream, this
is normal, this is almost mundane for some of the people we spoke to."
Girls we spoke to seemed to think sexting was just flirting – no different to
the harmless fun previous generations indulged in.
But if your instinct as a parent is to bury your head in the sand and hope this is a craze which your own children will escape, perhaps it's time to think again.
Children say they have no one to turn to for advice because their parents – outwitted by technology, and struggling to juggle work and home life – don't really know what's going on.
And school sex education is totally missing the target. Every child we spoke to said it was out-of-touch, irrelevant and too little too late. Boys end up turning to porn to teach them what they think they need to know.
Jon Brown from the NSPCC is clear what's needed: "Good quality sex education is absolutely critical. It needs to start actually in primary school. It needs to be age-appropriate if we are able to help them navigate their way through these pressures."
A Department for Education spokesman this morning told me that all schools are encouraged to provide children with a "good education about sex and healthy relationships".
“We are currently reviewing personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education to establish how this teaching can be improved," he said.
I remember when I was pregnant with my youngest daughter I went to the local book shop to get a book for my eldest – then four and a half – about how her baby sister got there. I imagined a quaint little volume about seeds and storks and love would do the trick.
Instead the nice lady behind the counter suggested a smart cartoon book which featured all sorts of different sexual positions mum and dad may or may not have enjoyed to "make" the baby.
I ran a mile and ended up buying a book about a little mouse who was jealous of her new sibling. My eldest daughter never liked it.
I now wonder if I should have opted for the savvy cartoon after all.
Because unless we all talk to our kids about what lies ahead, those pressures and dangers will end up rearing their heads before we've had that conversation (or preferably more than one conversation). And then children will end up facing up to it on their own, when they most need our help and support.
But if your instinct as a parent is to bury your head in the sand and hope this is a craze which your own children will escape, perhaps it's time to think again.
Children say they have no one to turn to for advice because their parents – outwitted by technology, and struggling to juggle work and home life – don't really know what's going on.
And school sex education is totally missing the target. Every child we spoke to said it was out-of-touch, irrelevant and too little too late. Boys end up turning to porn to teach them what they think they need to know.
Jon Brown from the NSPCC is clear what's needed: "Good quality sex education is absolutely critical. It needs to start actually in primary school. It needs to be age-appropriate if we are able to help them navigate their way through these pressures."
A Department for Education spokesman this morning told me that all schools are encouraged to provide children with a "good education about sex and healthy relationships".
“We are currently reviewing personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education to establish how this teaching can be improved," he said.
I remember when I was pregnant with my youngest daughter I went to the local book shop to get a book for my eldest – then four and a half – about how her baby sister got there. I imagined a quaint little volume about seeds and storks and love would do the trick.
Instead the nice lady behind the counter suggested a smart cartoon book which featured all sorts of different sexual positions mum and dad may or may not have enjoyed to "make" the baby.
I ran a mile and ended up buying a book about a little mouse who was jealous of her new sibling. My eldest daughter never liked it.
I now wonder if I should have opted for the savvy cartoon after all.
Because unless we all talk to our kids about what lies ahead, those pressures and dangers will end up rearing their heads before we've had that conversation (or preferably more than one conversation). And then children will end up facing up to it on their own, when they most need our help and support.
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