When has sex-education not been a hot topic? One side against the other. Home against the state. But while concerned adults are still duking it out, internet pornography has swooped in and taken over. Not cool! Porn instructs children and teens through the lens of exploitation. So how do we set our differences aside and find a way to safely address pornography in the classroom?
Liz Walker, Managing Director of the Youth Wellbeing Project, says the key to better education is to get over the “us against them” mentality. Rather, we need to look at both sides objectively to determine what’s actually putting our kids at risk. Children and teens deserve to be fortified against the harms of porn. As such it’s important they be told what drives the industry (i.e., violence, exploitation, trafficking, and profit). In this way, they can more fully appreciate porn’s potential impact on individuals, relationships, and society.
Safely address pornography in the classroom
Liz brings a personal perspective to the conversation. She was only six when she herself was exposed to pornography for the first time. This has given her an acute understanding of the trauma porn can inflict on young children. Hence the primary focus of the Youth Wellbeing Project: prevention of sexual harms, enhancing online, social and emotional relationships, and fortifying children and youth within our hypersexualized culture.
In this episode:
- Prioritize the prevention of sexual harms. Parents and educators agree on the need for protective and safeguarding education. This should include a framework to address the harms of pornography.
- Beware the misguided approach. Educational frameworks that attempt to reduce shame by normalizing the use of porn can cause more harm than good. If you hear the term “Porn Literacy” it could be a red flag. Investigate.
- The BIG PICTURE approach. We discuss the need for an educational framework that considers the impact of porn on the safety, health and wellbeing of individuals, relationships, families, communities and cultures—what Liz calls “A Critical Porn Analysis.”
- Porn & Online Safeguarding Education. Addressing pornography in the classroom doesn’t need to be scary. Schools can take advantage of existing classroom conversations: online safety, physical health and mental well-being, protective behaviors, and relationships.
Episode challenge
Find out what your school’s policy is for providing online safety and safeguarding education in both primary and intermediate grades. Does it include teaching kids what to do when they see pornography? For intermediate grades, find out if pornography is addressed in conjuction with sexuality education. Ask pointed questions. Make sure the lens of their educational approach includes the whole-health of the student: mental, physical, and emotional.
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More about today’s guest
Liz Walker is an international expert on porn harms, advocacy, and education. She provides schools and community education as Managing Director of Youth Wellbeing Project: educating for tricky conversations. Initiatives include IQ PROGRAMS, a whole-school educational package; and Porn Resilient Kids: equipping families for tricky conversations through educational resources and children’s books. Liz is considered a global leader in responding to pornography harms and contributes to several public health-focused organizations. Roles include Director of Health Education for Culture Reframed, the global leader in solving the public health crisis of the digital age. Well-connected internationally, Liz regularly provides consultancy to government, non-profit, and professional organizations.
Links/Resources
7 principles of whole-person centred sexuality education: https://www.youthwellbeingproject.com.au/about/#principles
Critical Porn Analysis:
https://www.youthwellbeingproject.com.au/critical-analysis
Youth Wellbeing Project IQ PROGRAMS School Curriculum: https://edu.youthwellbeingproject.info
Porn Resilient Kids Website:
https://www.pornresilientkids.com
Porn & Online Safeguarding Education:
https://www.youthwellbeingproject.com.au/about/#framing
PA Blog Post: Do Schools Encourage Students to View Pornography?
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