Pupils should be taught about “sexting” and pornography in schools, research suggests

A survey commissioned by charity Plan International UK showed that 71 per cent of respondents were in favour of educating pupils about “sexting”.

The survey, carried out by Opinium, asked the public whether they backed the inclusion of the subjects as part of sex and relationships education (SRE) in schools, and had 2,007 respondents.

75 per cent supported the idea of educating pupils on the impact of pornography and 82 per cent wanted to see lessons about violence and abuse in relationships brought to the classrooms.

Support was generally higher among parents, with seven out of 10 parents backing the inclusion of education about different sexualities.

Plan International UK’s chief executive Tanya Barron said: “It’s clear that the UK public – including parents – feel that educating our children about issues such as sexual consent, different sexual orientations and the impact of pornography is important.

“Parents are simply demanding that their children’s education reflects the 21st-century reality of their lives. Children today can be exposed to all sorts of sexual imagery on a daily basis which we know to be causing harm.

Barron added: “Such education is categorically not about exposing children to harmful or distressing material unnecessarily. Clearly, such education would need to be appropriate to the age of the child, and we as a society need to discuss what that would look like.”

Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, and MP for Basingstoke, Maria Miller, commented: “Parents and children know they need help and that is why I want compulsory lessons at school to help children better understand the signs of an abusive relationship, issues such as consent and the harm that is done by sexting and underage viewing of pornography.”