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The government should focus on engaging boys in relationships and sex education lessons at school to help tackle the continuing problem of sexual harassment and violence against pupils, MPs have said.<\/p>\n
The Commons Women and Equalities Committee said relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) should be made compulsory in sixth forms and colleges as it warned that young people are making their first steps into the adult world \u201cunder-supported\u201d to navigate potentially \u201cdangerous\u201d situations.<\/p>\n
Sexual harassment and sexual violence continue to be \u201ca scourge\u201d in schools, with many girls and women \u201cfeeling powerless,\u201d a report has found.<\/p>\n
The cross-party group of MPs said engagement with boys and young men was \u201ccrucial\u201d for tackling sexual harassment and sexual violence in educational settings, but evidence to the committee suggested that RSHE lessons being taught in schools are \u201cless applicable\u201d and engaging for boys.<\/p>\n
The report calls on the government to develop a specific strategy for engaging with boys and young men in primary and secondary schools on the topics of sexual harassment and gender-based violence.<\/p>\n
It added that all teachers should be trained on how to engage male pupils in conversations that \u201cchallenge prevailing gender norms\u201d,\u00a0 ideas of masculinity, and attitudes towards women and girls.<\/p>\n
The committee heard that some schools were not sufficiently promoting gender equality, or acknowledging the problem of violence against girls.<\/p>\n
The report called for schools to be given more support as it said that \u201cin too many cases\u201d schools lack the funding and time to deliver RSHE \u201ceffectively\u201d.<\/p>\n
It comes after thousands of testimonials were posted by young people on the Everyone\u2019s Invited website in 2021 documenting their experiences of sexual harassment and assault in education settings.<\/p>\n
For far too long too many people in positions of authority have failed to notice the problem of sexual harassment in schools, of girls and female staff<\/p>\n
Caroline Nokes, chairwoman of the committee<\/p>\n
A review by Ofsted into safeguarding in schools, published in June 2021, found that sexual harassment had become \u201cnormalised\u201d for schoolchildren, and inspectors were told that boys were sharing \u201cnudes\u201d among themselves like a \u201ccollection game\u201d on WhatsApp and Snapchat.<\/p>\n
Witnesses told the Women and Equalities Committee\u2019s inquiry that boys are \u201ccyber flashing hardcore pornographic images\u201d at girls in the corridor and AirDropping nude images to students in class.<\/p>\n
In March, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the government would bring forward a review into RSHE in schools.<\/p>\n
The problem of misogynistic attitudes and behaviour emanate from outside of school and in particular from the wild west of social media and online content<\/p>\n
Geoff Barton, Association of School and College Leaders<\/p>\n
MPs have called on the government to lay a strategy for engaging with male pupils in RSHE before Parliament by the end of 2023 alongside its review.<\/p>\n
Caroline Nokes, chairwoman of the committee, said: \u201cFor far too long too many people in positions of authority have failed to notice the problem of sexual harassment in schools, of girls and female staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has taken the testimonies of students to prompt an official response. It is incumbent on school leaders, inspectors and the government not to let them down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst there have been some positive steps since the Everyone\u2019s Invited movement exposed how widespread the problem is, there is clearly more to do to improve safeguarding and education.<\/p>\n
\u201cEducation is a powerful tool in combating harmful attitudes towards women and girls and preventing violence. It is crucial that mandatory relationships, sex and health education continue past secondary school.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also need a specific focus on engaging boys and young men in RSHE and we expect the government to consider this in its ongoing RSHE review.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now we need to keep talking about it, understanding it and taking action to eradicate it<\/p>\n
Soma Sara, Everyone\u2019s Invited website<\/p>\n
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: \u201cSexual harassment and sexual violence is treated as an extremely serious matter in schools and colleges with teaching and pastoral work which focuses on the importance of respect and sanctions which reflect the gravity of this behaviour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem of misogynistic attitudes and behaviour emanates from outside of school and in particular from the wild west of social media and online content.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government\u2019s Online Safety Bill has been in development for years and is still plodding its way through Parliament, and schools and colleges have received very little in the way of support or training for the delivery of relationships and sex education.<\/p>\n
\u201cSchools and colleges are striving to uphold good values but they cannot fight this battle alone. They need to be supported in terms of funding, resources and an online regulatory framework that protects young people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soma Sara, the founder of the Everyone\u2019s Invited website, said: \u201cFrom the beginning, Everyone\u2019s Invited has always embraced the importance of engaging with boys and men in a positive, life-affirming way, recognising how crucial their voices and experiences are.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that everyone should have strong, empathetic and equal relationships with each other and we believe this can be taught and encouraged in schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
We are developing further guidance for schools to support educators in teaching about this issue and engage boys and young men about misogyny and sexual violence in education<\/p>\n
Government spokesman<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cIt was widely thought that sexual harassment happened to a small minority of people but now we are seeing that it is a cultural issue, prevalent everywhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is like lowering the water to reveal the whole iceberg rather than just talking about the tip of the iceberg. Now we need to keep talking about it, understanding it and taking action to eradicate it.\u201d<\/p>\n
A government spokesman said: \u201cAll women and girls deserve a safe environment, and we expect schools, colleges and universities to take immediate action against sexual misconduct or harassment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are developing further guidance for schools to support educators in teaching about this issue and engage boys and young men about misogyny and sexual violence in education.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough the Online Safety Bill, technology firms will be required to enforce their age limits and protect children from being exposed to harmful material online.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines email The government should focus on engaging boys in relationships and sex education lessons at school to help tackle the continuing problem of sexual harassment and violence against pupils, MPs have said. The Commons Women […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n