As I’m sure you can imagine, I have been part of and witnessed some incredible, memorable and extraordinary conversations with students in my privileged role over the years. Some of these are inspiring, and some of them stop me in my tracks.
One of the more shattering conversations I’ve had was at my previous school when I was speaking with a Year 12 student who had recently broken up with another student. This had caused some unrest amongst the year level and a meeting was arranged with the student and the school counsellor to help. We were unpacking parts of their relationship in the meeting to uncover what had transpired to better understand the situation. The relationship had become advanced intimately; however, we were told that this did not include kissing until many months after the intimacy began. Through further investigation, we discovered that what had become reality to this young man was that through his experiences of watching porn on the internet he was conducting himself with what he deemed as normal behaviour.
I must admit I was shocked by this and went on to attend various professional learning conferences and studies on the impact of porn. On a more recent conference, a study concluded that all males, between the ages of approximately 13 to 15 years old, had viewed or seen pornography. It is clearly something we as educators and parents need to address. Has porn distorted certain perceptions of intimate relationships? Has it desensitised sexual content or encouraged more aggressive and violent behaviour?
This month, we are hosting a webinar discussing this very topic and providing next steps for adults in addressing this concerning issue for the young people in our care. The webinar is hosted by Elephant Ed, a leading sexuality education provider to hundreds of schools around Australia. Elephant Ed’s workshops are evidence-based, age-appropriate and mapped to State and National curriculum guidelines. Elephant Ed is endorsed by the eSafety Commissioner as a Trusted eSafety Provider.
This webinar will include the following key discussion points:
- statistics and prevalence of exposure to pornography amongst young people
- the impact of exposure, including key distortions
- strategies to start effective conversations at home.
When: 7.00–8.00pm, Wednesday 30 August 2023
You must register here for this event. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to join the webinar.
Christian Gregory
Deputy Head of Senior School – Student Wellbeing
