Deeply concerned about Child Safety in Bristol

[MatthewJTaylor]

From May 5th to May 8th 2022, the Tobacco Factory Theatres in Bristol is having performances of "The Family Sex Show".
This show is aimed at children 5 years old and up.
The performers involved get naked.
The discussion with the children is on sex, sexuality and sexual pleasure.

I cannot imagine brining a 5 year old child to a theatre where people will to to her/him about sex and show their naked bodies to her/him.

Am I the crazy one?

Sources:
The Family Sex Show website
Listing at The Tobacco Factory Theatres

@BringBackCoffeeCreams

Their website talks about children developing sexually and experiencing sexual pleasure from birth. It also talks of their aims to support children in this sexual development. Naked adults supporting young children in the development of their sexual pleasure! WTF is wrong with those of you who think this is ok?

It sounds like classic BoyLove propaganda.

It really, really reminds me of the PIE

Some surprisingly and previously credible people fell for that too.

@Believerinbiology

Under the people section the first person says "the highlight for me is standing fully naked....singing...about various genitals"

To children.....

Of course all the most successful predators operate in plain sight

@bagelcreamcheese

Oh this sounds wonderful. What a great resource to start a positive conversation with children about their bodies. Nothing on the website sounds remotely concerning if you actually bother to read it — sounds like it will do a great job at teaching kids about important issues like consent and diversity of gender. Thanks to the original poster for sharing!

Come back when you have children

The advert on the main page of the Tabacco Factory says 'How can 2 people with the same parts have sex?'

How pray are they going to answer that question to 5 year olds.

If you're putting on a production entitled "The Family Sex Show" you need your website to be as clear as possible about the content in terms of language, nudity, age appropriateness and links to the national curriculum. You would need to show what safeguarding has been undertaken as you must expect questions will be asked. If your company does similar shows aimed at different age groups, you would need to be crystal clear about how the content varies.

The fact that the production and website appear to be incomplete suggests that, even with the best intent, this is the work of a bunch of half-arsed amateurs who shouldn't be involved in any kind of role with children.

Who is funding this production?

@FOJN that is exactly what groomers have been doing for decades. This is absolutely nothing new, just more visible. Sadly I know of literally hundreds such scenarios.

It goes like this: the adult is "saving" the child from the wrong kind of sex, the wrong kind of porn, the wrong kind of relationship, the wrong kind of adult, by introducing them to the right kind of all of these things as early as possible. Which is naturally THEM and their sex/porn/relationship.

It has gone on behind closed doors (or within small groups) forever. Then, for a while, society woke up a bit and realised what had been happening. Cue the disgust at Savile, the exposure of abuse in football, childrens' homes, the churches, the scouts etc etc. And some attempts to prevent it from continuing, and in many cases, to compensate people for this having happened to them.

Now it looks like it is all going in reverse, only on a society-wide scale. With the consent of the public/government/liberal media. Deeply depressing, especially for someone who has been working in this field for decades.

[quote Gizacluethen]@BewareTheBeardedDragon
If a young child doesn't ask, then don't tell them.

I get where you're coming from but at the same time, do you have this stance with everything? Does your child need to ask about hitting/bullying or even maths/history? What if they don't feel comfortable asking? What if they don't think to ask?

I didn't tell my mum I'd started bleeding for months and months because I didn't feel comfortable bringing it up, I knew what it was but she'd never ever mentioned anything like that. Why should a child be the one to start the conversation?[/quote]
I did say I was talking about young children 5/6/7/8. I think once they get to 10-11, yes it then becomes appropriate to open conversations about sex but with younger ones I believe it needs to be child led. But all of mine have been aware of periods from toddlerhood onwards because they never let me go to the blinking loo alone and inevitably questions were asked.

Love the wanky blurb on the website 'bring your whole self' 🤣
As if you'd accidentally leave one of your limbs at home.

Any parent who takes their child to this sort of thing needs their head examining. It’s no wonder children are growing up with so many issues these days. They’ve had enough to cope with Covid, lockdowns and now this

@theDudesmummy

I have worked for a long time in the field of child sexual abuse, and grooming children for abuse by giving them (and their parents) "education" about "relationships" etc is absolutely a huge thing and has been for decades. It's happened in religious organisations, schools, private tuition, sports and leisure settings, you name it. I've come across it literally hundreds of times. It just used to be mostly private. Now it's out there in full public view it seems.

I'd be interested in knowing a bit more a bit this, if you are able - maybe on another thread? Safeguarding seems very misunderstood - it'd be good to hear from an expert as to methods used to groom and how it can be stopped.

@BewareTheBeardedDragon surely you can see the enormous category difference between telling your prepubertal daughter about periods and simulating sex and singing about genitals in front of five-year-olds? (With, I submit, a wider and very sinister agenda, maybe not on the part of all the potentially duped people involved on the ground, but certainly on the part of whoever is pulling the strings).

@EmmaH2022

This on the FAQs

"Use pleasure as a vehicle for consent - knowing why we might say yes so we know when to say no."

Bloody hell.

They do know how grooming and CSE work right?

How can you teach a child about safety, consent and boundaries but at the same time teach them if it feels good it's fine?

This stuff scares the shit out of me as the parent of a thrill seeker, he would have been prime fodder for this.

I am trained in safeguarding but that is not my job, I work with adults with a history of historical abuse. So I am not technically a safeguarding expert, but someone who has heard, in enormous detail, literally hundreds, probably thousands, of stories of sexual abuse of children, in every possible setting.

@Beowulfa

If you're putting on a production entitled "The Family Sex Show" you need your website to be as clear as possible about the content in terms of language, nudity, age appropriateness and links to the national curriculum. You would need to show what safeguarding has been undertaken as you must expect questions will be asked. If your company does similar shows aimed at different age groups, you would need to be crystal clear about how the content varies.

The fact that the production and website appear to be incomplete suggests that, even with the best intent, this is the work of a bunch of half-arsed amateurs who shouldn't be involved in any kind of role with children.

This. It says it’s for all ages, but the conversation you would have with a five year old is very different from that with a 15 year old. It cannot possibly cover all ages in an age appropriate way.

And ‘diversity of genders’ is propaganda of a particular belief system and should have has no part in sex education at any age.

My 10 year old covers her face with a cushion if characters kiss in a movie. She won’t come out until we reassure her it has stopped, she is so embarrassed even seeing two cartoon characters kiss at the end of a film.
Taking her to a show where adults simulate sex and take their clothes off is beyond inappropriate. It would mortify her.

And we’re not uptight pearl clutchers. We talk about it in an age appropriate way, I’ve given her age appropriate books about puberty, and reassure her she can ask us anything even if it is embarrassing.

I agree with others that this show is grooming and trying to break down boundaries of adults and children.

That glossary- I'm amazed at anyone defending this.

I wonder how many local schools are taking their pupils

@FOJN

It really, really reminds me of the PIE

Some surprisingly and previously credible people fell for that too.

As I've posted previously on MN imo there's alot of stuff about at the moment that reminds me of the PIE/Labour/Liberty debacle. You'd like to think that people would be automatically repulsed by anything attempting to sexualise childhood, but it would seem not.

They do know how grooming and CSE work right?

How can you teach a child about safety, consent and boundaries but at the same time teach them if it feels good it's fine?

Makes you wonder if they know exactly what they are doing.

theDudesmummy

Thank you. I think a PP (it might have been you) commented further up thread that few people fully understand safeguarding or how to implement it properly. My brother was sexually abused by someone in a position of authority and trust. The abuser spent many hours at my home grooming my parents to gain the trust he needed to create the opportunities for abuse. A SW on Twitter says something along the lines of, "optimism bias is the mortal enemy of safeguarding", I keep that in mind when issues like this come up. We should never accept exposing children to sexual material, no matter how many claims are made for its educational value, without very close scrutiny.

From the FAQs:

“The structure for The Family Sex Show is based on School of Sexuality Education’s age appropriate Relationships and Sex Education curriculum and is in line with NSPCC research.”

“It’s about sexual health, and mental health.
It's about consent and safety.
It's about accepting that you are you and you are enough - that we are all different and that that’s a brilliant thing, because we are also all equal.”

"Accepting that you are you" sounds great, how could anyone possibly argue with that? The problem is that this phrase means (or should I say, SHOULD mean) completely diferent things in the case of a five-year-old as opposed to the case of a fifteen-year old.

@MrsOvertonsWindow

I suspect those defending this with such enthusiasm are not parents. And have no experience in dealing with predators and the children they abuse. Boundaries are essential. Wanting to talk with 5 year olds about sex when you've no qualifications for this is a red flag. Adults suggesting being naked in front of unknown 5 years olds is a red flag. Failing to understand the different issues around age appropriate language and concepts is a major red flag.

I’m not a parent either but fuck me, I know a safeguarding risk when I see one. And this one is waving more red flags than Jenny Agutter trying to stop a train.