TES: Ofsted: Nude pupil pictures not a safeguarding issue

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Ofsted's chief inspector has suggested that male pupils sending naked photographs of themselves to female classmates is not a safeguarding issue for schools.
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Amanda Spielman was taking questions from the Commons Education Select Committee this morning, following her watchdog's publication of a major report last week telling headteachers to act on the assumption that sexual harassment is happening in their schools.

Today she was asked by Ian Mearns, Labour MP for Gateshead: "When is an allegation of sexual harassment involving a child not a safeguarding issue?"

Ms Spielman replied: "I have talked recently, for example, to a sample of girls who had left school within the last two years. Only one of them was able to say that they had never been sent an image by a boy of…a photograph of their naked selves.

"Most of the girls laugh that off and think it’s contemptible. They would not want to be pulled into sort of safeguarding procedures by reason of being sent a photograph that they think is simply contemptible."

Mr Mearns then asked: "Is it not a safeguarding issue for the boy who sent the photograph as well - in terms of their behaviour, and what else they’re likely to be getting up to?"

Sex abuse in schools: Girls being sent naked photos 'common', says Ofsted
Ms Spielman replied: "There’s a spectrum here and the advisers we had on the reference group were really helpful on this – in sexual misconduct of every kind there is a spectrum from the truly evil and appalling at one extreme all the way down to things which are essentially clumsy explorations of emerging adolescent sexuality."
www.tes.com/news/ofsted-nude-pupil-pictures-not-safeguarding-issue

I'm not sure what to say really. I guess it may have been badly reported, or safeguarding means something different to teachers than it does to laypeople?

But it seems to be saying that sending nude photographs is just a "clumsy exploration of emerging adolescent sexuality", not something to be concerned about. She seems to have no understanding that sexual abuse often starts at the lower end of the spectrum she describes, and then escalates. S

This is so ridiculous. The Ofsted person is unfit for purpose. Schoolgirls should not have to 'laugh off' pornographic images sent by their schoolmates. Schoolboys should not learn that it's ok to do that. And the same goes if it's girls sending photographs to boys. Don't do it.

Unsolicited nudes are flashing and should be treated as such.

I’ll be complaining about this. Instances like this, when someone in authority says something that totally undermines their credibility, because it goes to the heart of what they’re supposed to be doing, are very revealing.

I’ve also contacted ‘Everyone’s invited’ about it

From Twitter

Unbelievable. I thought even if both parties were underage it still constitutes sharing of child porn. Well its child abuse really but for some reason it's called as a subset of porn..

And overly sexual behaviour in children is a red flag for abuse. It's hard enough already that predominantly girls who have no idea of boundaries due to grooming and abuse are then not considered worthy of protection because if their "provocative behaviour " , how do they propose to.protect children when the warning signs aren't deemed an issue in the first place.

Wtf is she thinking

As a teacher, I am telling you that in all regards,.Ofsted judgements aren't worth the paper they're written on.
I've worked in amazing schools that take non literate families and work with them to get the children to a level of education that can get them out of poverty with 'poor' judgements. I've worked in outstanding schools where behaviour management is a joke.
All Ofsted are good for is telling you how middle class the demographic is.

So I am not surprised they are useless when it comes to safeguarding.
Once again,. leaving the real legwork up to teachers who should have a regulatory body backing up their safeguarding efforts,.but don't, leaving them open to criticism.
The whole organisation isn't fit for purpose.

With attitudes like this it is no wonder that sexual harrassment is rife in schools.

It seems to me that boys are told from an early age that their, often, bad behavious is 'boys being boys'. This continues on until them sending dick pics is just 'clumsy explorations of emerging adolescent sexuality'. Lets continue to minimise the behavious of males, no wonder males think they are untouchable.

Meanwhile lets continue to police girls/women, young girls should wear modesty shorts, then crop tops in year 6 ie. cover yourself up because actually we think you are responsible for making the boys look.

When are we actually going to start to address the behaviour of boys/men because until this starts nothing is going to change.

Asking girls who have just left school is still unhelpful. You don’t realise how wrong this behaviour is until you get some life experience and realise this isn’t ok in the workplace. You don’t have to put up with this shit.
Thinking back to friends being groomed and preyed upon at school age (when boundaries meant prude) - I don’t understand what she thinks this proves. Surely it’s like asking teen mums if they were ok having sex at 14. The 30 year olds looking back would go “NO! Of course I was stupid and naive. Why didn’t people try to stop me”

And who were they with when asked.

I mean if your parents paid thousands for you to attend a private school or they spent hours a week in traffic taking you you the best school they could get you into, would you want them to find out it was just another cess pit of sexual harassment and dick pics?

Does make you wonder how honest they were and if it was worse than they made out

@Comefromaway

The powers that be at my son's previous school had a similar attitude. The treated the fact that a boy took a covert photo of ds naked in the PE changing room showers and then threatened to send it to a girl ds liked with the same seriousness as when ds had a sensory overload and shut himself in a cupboard )same Saturday detention punishment applied)

They told me that it was not allowed for anyone to check the phone to make sure the photo had been deleted. My dh a year or so later attended safeguarding training where he was told that was not the case.

I'm really sorry your son had this horrible experience, Comefromaway . "Data protection" is (mis)used time and time again to prevent adequate safeguarding of vulnerable groups and enforcement of the law.

I wonder what would happen if Spielman was sent an unsolicited dick pick from one of her male colleagues? Would she simply "laugh it off" or - rightly - treat it as serious harassment. When is the cut off for young women to stop "laughing off" being sent pornography (that's what it is, "nudes" is so coy)? Are they allowed to feel affronted once they turn 18 and move on to university, and receive these pictures from a male student? What magically happens between school and uni to make one ok, and the other not?

This is just a variation on "be kind", and another sinister turn in the systematic desensitisation of children from a young age and the state sanctioned trampling of girls' boundaries. All at the behest of Stonewall and their ilk. Spielman not only needs to lose her job, but should not have any future working with children.

Amanda Spielman has stated that:

Yesterday, the Education Select Committee questioned me about Ofsted's recent sexual abuse review. We discussed the findings of the review and how schools, government and the inspectorates should respond.

At one point I was questioned about how schools should respond to incidents where naked images are sent to girls and my comments have been interpreted by some people to mean that I don't view this as a safeguarding issue. That isn't what I said and it isn't what I think.

Sexual abuse or harassment is a safeguarding issue. The challenge for schools is how to respond appropriately to individual incidents while still recognising it's an endemic problem. This will often require a behavioural sanction for the perpetrator alongside the education that we all know is so necessary. That was the point of my discussion with the committee.

^In our review, girls told us that one reason they don't report harassment is that they are concerned about the next steps that would follow; others said that dealing with the problem was "like playing whack-a-mole" because it was so widespread. This is a difficult issue for schools - clearly there needs to be appropriate
sanctions against this behaviour and there will be cases that need to be referred to other authorities. The central recommendation of our review was that schools must assume abuse and harassment is happening to their pupils, whether or not they have had specific reports. They need to create and sustain a culture that
does not tolerate it.^

I've spent the last week speaking about our review and its troubling findings. I'm pleased the review has had the attention that the subject deserves.
twitter.com/amanda_spielman/status/1405133596185317380?s=19

I wonder if Ms Spielman would be quite so complacent if one of her colleagues sent her a dick pic…

Meanwhile schools are being heavy handed with uniform policy to prepare children for the world of work.

In most workplaces, inappropriate dress would be dealt with with a gentle conversation. However an unsolicited dick pic would rightly be gross misconduct often leading to instant dismissal.

I'm absolutely disgusted that this woman thinks it's something that girls should put up with and is comfortable that schools are conditioning girls to put up with it.

This is doing teenaged girls and boys no favours at all.

Oh God so true!!!! The stupid obsession with uniform when there’s massive things like this going on!

I find it interesting that her first focus is on the girls getting the pics and not the boys sending them.

With her take being, the girls 'laugh it off' so no problem.

When I was a girl it was expected to laugh off groping, flashing etc.

It's such a crap answer.

The first focus should have been the boys sending them. To address it in some way.

The other thing is that I have read of girls who were coerced / persuaded into sending pics, by adult men, being threatened with prosecution.

The difference in approach is inbuilt societal misogyny writ large.

It's always the girls fault.

How is there such a gap between the first report and her second comments posted by OP?

Yes I would also be very worried about the boys sending them. Over sexualised behaviour in the very young could be indicative of abuse.

Yep. She focused on the girls receiving the dick pics rather than the boys sending them

Says much about her

And she leveraged and enforced the socialisation of girls to minimise, not complain, not make a fuss etc.

I mean it's terrible all round.

Sending unsolicited naked photos of yourself to minors should be reported to the police and should be criminal. If the person is a minor themselves, they should be suspended from school, counselled/therapy, monitored the first time. Repeat offence should be expelled, put on a register and potentially taken to court.

This is different from someone sending a photo of themselves if someone asks them for it. The person asking for the naked photo of a minor should be criminalised. Again - if this person is a minor themselves, they should be suspended and counselled/therapy, monitored for a first offence, but then expelled and put on a register and potentially taken to court for repeat offences.

Although it is predominantly boys who are doing these things, I don’t think girls doing the same thing is any more acceptable.

The difference in treatment is stark though.

Boys sending unsolicited. The girls laugh it off. And it happens all the time. Nothing to be done.

Girls sending when badgered/ persuaded. Criminal matter they have distributed illegal images of children.

'A 12-year-old girl who was pressured into sending a topless photo to a paedophile has reportedly been told she could face a child sex charge.

Child exploitation officers warned the schoolgirl she could end up with a criminal record after her mother learned she was being groomed online and contacted police.

The paedophile who coerced the girl into sending the picture has not yet been found, the The Sunday Mirror reported.'

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/paedophile-instagram-national-crime-agency-child-exploitation-online-protection-unit-a7951381.html

[quote NiceGerbil]The difference in treatment is stark though.

Boys sending unsolicited. The girls laugh it off. And it happens all the time. Nothing to be done.

Girls sending when badgered/ persuaded. Criminal matter they have distributed illegal images of children.

'A 12-year-old girl who was pressured into sending a topless photo to a paedophile has reportedly been told she could face a child sex charge.

Child exploitation officers warned the schoolgirl she could end up with a criminal record after her mother learned she was being groomed online and contacted police.

The paedophile who coerced the girl into sending the picture has not yet been found, the The Sunday Mirror reported.'

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/paedophile-instagram-national-crime-agency-child-exploitation-online-protection-unit-a7951381.html[/quote]
Oh well of course. Someone need to be prosecuted for this situation, so if it's too hard, or there's not the appetite, to find the male perpetrator, then of course make your crime stats look better by going after the female child victim.

I think AS is getting a bad rap here. I think some of what she said was taken out of context and only had some words reported.

However....let's remember that AS is in charge of Ofsted - not the whole country.... If a child receives a nude photo the child or the parent can make a complaint directly to the police. It doesn't have to be a school responsibility - and most of these will be recieved off school premises and out of school time. So we need to stop pushing it all onto schools. They have limit resources and time and should focus on education.