Thousands of school children barred for sex offences
Pornography is rife in UK schools, with pupils as young as five sent home for ‘sexual misconduct’
AN EPIDEMIC of pornography is sweeping through Britain’s schools with children as young as five being expelled for sexual misconduct.
Thousands of pupils have been either permanently or temporarily excluded over the past four years for sexual misdemeanours including watching pornography or sharing indecent images, according to figures obtained by the Press Association.
The figures, from local councils, do not include those where children were victims of staff or adult volunteers.
Data released by the Department for Education (DFE) showed more than 800 primary school children have been excluded for “sexual misconduct” since 2013. The number for senior school students, over the same period of time, was 8,000.
Charities warned that schools should prevent “harmful sexual behaviour” among children by teaching them about consent.
An NSPCC spokesman said: “Preventing harmful sexual behaviour through proper, up-to-date sex and relationships education is immeasurably better than excluding children after the harm has been done.
“By giving children the right information … we can teach them how to treat others and how to know when something is not right.”
The spokesman said that the school curriculum should be updated to teach children about the dangers of sexting and online porn.
“Social media, sexting, online porn and dating apps did not exist when sex education was introduced on the curriculum a generation ago,” they said.
“It must be dragged into the 21st century, it must be consistent, and it must be offered in every school.”
Schools said children could be censured under the term “sexual misconduct” for a range of issues, including sexual abuse, assault, bullying, graffiti, harassment, and lewd behaviour.
Other examples included holding, distributing or requesting indecent images, accessing internet pornography, and sexual misconduct on social media.
Sarah Green, co-director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said the figures were “alarming”.
“These figures show that girls and boys are being failed by those who should protect them,” she said. Javed Khan, chief executive at the children’s charity Barnardo’s said that often children who sexually harm others have experienced some form of sexual abuse and trauma.
“They need specialist support to help them recover and understand why their behaviour is harmful,” he said.
A DFE spokesman said: “Sexual assault of any kind is an offence. Schools should be safe places and we issue safeguarding guidance to protect pupil welfare.”