Pro-porn Childline film encouraging kids to google BDSM etc

[Sunkisses]

Jeez, just seen this from the Safe Schools Alliance UK on twitter. Six years ago Childline produced this pro-porn film which is basically an advert for PornHub masquerading as a child protection resource. It tells children that porn is "fun" & recommends genres like BDSM to google. It's had over 3 million views in the last 6 years, and goodness knows how much it has contributed to the rape culture we are now seeing in schools. It is illegal for under 18s to view porn, and children should be taught this and the harms of pornography, not encouraged to view it with a nod, nod, wink, wink attitude.

You can view the Safe Schools Alliance UK tweet here: twitter.com/SafeSchools_UK/status/1379528765261381634

SSAUK are calling on Childline and the NSPCC (who run Childline) to take this film down.

The Government should bring in age-verification for online porn ASAP to prevent children having easy access to online porn. All the laws have been passed, and the regulatory framework is in place. The Government bottled it at the last minute in 2019 after facing pressure from the powerful porn industry. Our children deserve better.

Not in my opinion. In my opinion we need to be having a discussion about the content and ethics of porn full stop. Not kidding ourselves that this isn't having a dreadful impact on young people.

Not usually, however they are able to disclose those things if necessary or if brought up in discussions. That's why it is actually important to talk about because it usually will spark a conversation where we can help those who are vulnerable.

This explains why my social worker vetoed a lot of school based PSE 😊

@RabbitOfCaerbannog

Not in my opinion. In my opinion we need to be having a discussion about the content and ethics of porn full stop. Not kidding ourselves that this isn't having a dreadful impact on young people.

Okay you are entitled to your opinion, however as of the age of 15 young people can request RSE education. Plus these conversations have shown to help young people understand what they are consuming and are helping those more vulnerable.

I note you said young people, asugar.

What ages?

Childline is aimed for anyone under 19 but in practice the adverts seem to show children around 6-13.

I seem to remember an advert with a crayon drawing.

Primary school children are pointed to it as a good source of info and help.

'People may not realize this is an important topic to talk about'

'
We talk about drugs, the effects and what they do, what the reasons are that someone chooses to use and not use (this includes sugar, coffee, alcohol) and the dangers that lie.'

Coffee? Sugar?

What on earth are you on about?

@ASugarr what is your understanding of safeguarding? I presume you are not you a teacher in a school? In what context do you teach sexual health to kids? Which organisation do you work for?

I thought it was called PHSE?

my kids have been having that since primary school, I didn't have to request it

Plus these conversations have shown to help young people understand what they are consuming and are helping those more vulnerable.

And yet teenage girls are still being choked and slapped during sex. And teenage boys think it's what you're supposed to do.

I read the paper a previous poster referred to (the difference between straight and gay porn). It contained still photos, which despite being pretty hardened to most things, I still wish I hadn't seen. Women being subject to the most hideous hideous abuse. Life threatening some of it. All from pornhub. And doubtless 'verified'.

@NiceGerbil

I note you said young people, asugar.

What ages?

Childline is aimed for anyone under 19 but in practice the adverts seem to show children around 6-13.

I seem to remember an advert with a crayon drawing.

Primary school children are pointed to it as a good source of info and help.

'People may not realize this is an important topic to talk about'

'
We talk about drugs, the effects and what they do, what the reasons are that someone chooses to use and not use (this includes sugar, coffee, alcohol) and the dangers that lie.'

Coffee? Sugar?

What on earth are you on about?

I understand that the link to child line might make it seem they are targetting primary school aged children however TomSka's content is for an older audience so I think they were targetting that rather than the younger ages. We discuss drugs and alcohol to young people in a similar way including the pros and cons however it has shown to decrease the use of substances for young people. Which is why these conversations around porn could hopefully help young people in the same way.

I don't object to talking to young people about porn. They should be educated about it. They should know what lies behind it and how it depicts relationships for the most part in a wildly misogynistic way. You seem to be misunderstanding me. Any discussion must involve ethics and should not paint it to 12 year olds as a bit of fun. It is having an increasingly problematic impact on young people's relationships as testified by the women in numerous articles I've shared. So RSE doesn't seem to be getting it right currently. It's not doing anything to help prevent young men see women as sexual objects to be degraded and spat on/choked etc etc as simply an everyday part of every relationship. This isn't progress.

This young woman showing off her bruises as if this is a bit of fun. This is not ok:

twitter.com/plstachios/status/1288162779900317699?s=21

[quote 2fallsagain]@ASugarr what is your understanding of safeguarding? I presume you are not you a teacher in a school? In what context do you teach sexual health to kids? Which organisation do you work for?[/quote]
I won't be giving out that information for my safety and the confidentiality of those young people I support 🤍

I won't be giving out that information for my safety and the confidentiality of those young people I support

Yeah because there couldn't possibly be more than a handful of people in the entire country delivering sex ed to kids right?

[quote RabbitOfCaerbannog]I don't object to talking to young people about porn. They should be educated about it. They should know what lies behind it and how it depicts relationships for the most part in a wildly misogynistic way. You seem to be misunderstanding me. Any discussion must involve ethics and should not paint it to 12 year olds as a bit of fun. It is having an increasingly problematic impact on young people's relationships as testified by the women in numerous articles I've shared. So RSE doesn't seem to be getting it right currently. It's not doing anything to help prevent young men see women as sexual objects to be degraded and spat on/choked etc etc as simply an everyday part of every relationship. This isn't progress.

This young woman showing off her bruises as if this is a bit of fun. This is not ok:

twitter.com/plstachios/status/1288162779900317699?s=21[/quote]
Okay that's fine but there are services out there dedicated to helping young people who do with to talk about it 🤍

I am a CSA survivor. From a very early age, I knew better than to disclose to the kind of adult that says 'porn is fun and fine'.

I have discussed it with my children in a very basic way.

I think that I've seen with the childline pages and others aimed at children that I've seen,

Is how they so often feel that they are written by men and for an older, much more knowing audience

Yes children see porn young. Yes they are curious. Yes they will look for it. Girls and boys. Because it's grown up, because they want to know what sex is all about, because they want to know what the other children are talking about.

What seems to be so wonky, as I mentioned, is that the advice is from a certain angle. An angle of. It's fine it's normal it's arousing etc.

A say 12 yo boy or girl being shown the sort of standard content now will more likely feel scared, worried and confused. It looks and often is quite, um. Rough, detached. The man or men do stuff to the woman. She turns this way and that way as they wish. Etc etc

The focus is all wrong. The sexual understanding and maturity assumed is all wrong. The male centric perspective is all wrong.

We can and should do better than this for children. But apparently that's prudish

The focus is all wrong. The sexual understanding and maturity assumed is all wrong. The male centric perspective is all wrong.

Agree

Actually a lot of those points were discussed in the video or is discussed in the government RSE guidelines.

Oh good. Do you mention erectile dysfunction when talking about porn or how you can start with soft porn and 'graduate' to child sex abuse images?

When you teach lessons on drugs do you mention the mental health or physical impacts, quoting some peer reviewed research or just say that it's normal, fine and fun?

(For the 80s kids is anyone reminded of Zammo and "just say no"?)

Here is what I will tell my child about porn when I decide it is the right time as i am the parent

Porn isn't sex. It's not love. It's morally wrong because of what it involves and the criminal acts it is connected to. It is against the law to show porn to anyone under the age of 18.

Don't watch it, if anyone tries to show you porn or makes you watch it tell me and I will take care of it.

And I will talk to my child about consent, sexual attraction, arousal, masturbation and all the things kids do but I do not need

A teacher
Some dodgy bloke off the internet
A kid from school
Some outsourced PSHE 'expert'
Childline
The NSPCC or Peter Wankless

...talking to my kid about porn.

@Thelnebriati

I am a CSA survivor. From a very early age, I knew better than to disclose to the kind of adult that says 'porn is fun and fine'.

@OhHolyJesus

Actually a lot of those points were discussed in the video or is discussed in the government RSE guidelines.

Oh good. Do you mention erectile dysfunction when talking about porn or how you can start with soft porn and 'graduate' to child sex abuse images?

When you teach lessons on drugs do you mention the mental health or physical impacts, quoting some peer reviewed research or just say that it's normal, fine and fun?

(For the 80s kids is anyone reminded of Zammo and "just say no"?)

Here is what I will tell my child about porn when I decide it is the right time as i am the parent

Porn isn't sex. It's not love. It's morally wrong because of what it involves and the criminal acts it is connected to. It is against the law to show porn to anyone under the age of 18.

Don't watch it, if anyone tries to show you porn or makes you watch it tell me and I will take care of it.

And I will talk to my child about consent, sexual attraction, arousal, masturbation and all the things kids do but I do not need

A teacher
Some dodgy bloke off the internet
A kid from school
Some outsourced PSHE 'expert'
Childline
The NSPCC or Peter Wankless

...talking to my kid about porn.

Actually yes, we do. However not everyone who watches porn then gets into watching any illegal or abusive porn. Especially child porn. You have to activly seek child pornography so it isn't a common path. You can watch porn without having a porn addiction or watching abusive and unverified porn.

“Child pornography” isn’t a thing. You mean images of child sexual abuse.

Oh & when I say 'professional standards', I include as an absolute baseline 'has attended mandatory safeguarding training & has absorbed that it's important & that there are procedures in place', which is training that would apply to quite a lot of people who are in contact with young people but aren't teachers.

If you're blithely wittering about young people 'disclosing' to you, then you're either a fantasist or an active safeguarding risk.

@OhHolyJesus

Actually a lot of those points were discussed in the video or is discussed in the government RSE guidelines.

Oh good. Do you mention erectile dysfunction when talking about porn or how you can start with soft porn and 'graduate' to child sex abuse images?

When you teach lessons on drugs do you mention the mental health or physical impacts, quoting some peer reviewed research or just say that it's normal, fine and fun?

(For the 80s kids is anyone reminded of Zammo and "just say no"?)

Here is what I will tell my child about porn when I decide it is the right time as i am the parent

Porn isn't sex. It's not love. It's morally wrong because of what it involves and the criminal acts it is connected to. It is against the law to show porn to anyone under the age of 18.

Don't watch it, if anyone tries to show you porn or makes you watch it tell me and I will take care of it.

And I will talk to my child about consent, sexual attraction, arousal, masturbation and all the things kids do but I do not need

A teacher
Some dodgy bloke off the internet
A kid from school
Some outsourced PSHE 'expert'
Childline
The NSPCC or Peter Wankless

...talking to my kid about porn.

Sums it up holy

That vid is just seems like grooming

Yay yay porn fun fun fun 👏👏👏👏👏

Idiot stuff.

For boys, I think it's important to understand that a lot of the people doing this aren't enjoying it. That it's a job. Too many men tell themselves that the women all love it etc.

I saw a documentary about a couple who did porn. They were pretty positive about it iirc and the two bits I remember are when the woman did a BDSM thing and was really heavily bruised over her whole body. She said it had gone a bit far. She was worried whether they'd heal enough for her next booking. She was in a lot of pain
And her partner (heterosexual) doing gay porn.
The second thing usually makes men a bit taken aback. I suppose the idea of getting fucked as your job- when they imagine themselves in that role they look uncomfortable. It never seems to occur to them to feel that empathy with the women (if they watch straight porn).

And on gay porn- what I've seen - unless BDSM or labelled another way. It's very different in feel. It's more mutual. I've seen snogging (!) and smiling at each other. The bog standard offering for het and gay porn seems very different (but I'm no expert and I stopped watching years ago!).

@ASugarr

As someone who teaches sexual health to young people I see no issue with this content! It explains exactly what porn is and has a healthy discussion around it 🤍

Think I'll be using this in future classes.

At the risk of being accused of being obsessive may I point out, yet again, that video omitted any reference to trafficking.

How it is possible to give a supposedly objective assessment about porn and omit that is quite astonishing.

That's aside from all the other twaddle about porn being fine and fun.

@NiceGerbil

For boys, I think it's important to understand that a lot of the people doing this aren't enjoying it. That it's a job. Too many men tell themselves that the women all love it etc.

I saw a documentary about a couple who did porn. They were pretty positive about it iirc and the two bits I remember are when the woman did a BDSM thing and was really heavily bruised over her whole body. She said it had gone a bit far. She was worried whether they'd heal enough for her next booking. She was in a lot of pain
And her partner (heterosexual) doing gay porn.
The second thing usually makes men a bit taken aback. I suppose the idea of getting fucked as your job- when they imagine themselves in that role they look uncomfortable. It never seems to occur to them to feel that empathy with the women (if they watch straight porn).

And on gay porn- what I've seen - unless BDSM or labelled another way. It's very different in feel. It's more mutual. I've seen snogging (!) and smiling at each other. The bog standard offering for het and gay porn seems very different (but I'm no expert and I stopped watching years ago!).

Agreed! We actually have this conversation a lot with boys not only because of the popularity amongst them, but also young men being taken more advantage of. We discuss the positives and negatives of porn and it makes a significant difference to young people understanding it rather than stumbling upon it without knowing what it truly is. But it can be used in a healthy way when done correctly.