Sexual harassment 'has become normalised for children in schools and colleges'

Sexual harassment has become “normalised” for schoolchildren, with around nine in 10 girls reporting incidents of sexist name calling and being sent unwanted explicit pictures or videos, a review has found. hildren often do not see the point of reporting sexual harassment because it happens so frequently, while many teachers consistently underestimate the scale of these problems, an Ofsted report suggests. Ofsted inspectors were told that boys are sharing “nudes” among themselves like a “collection game” on platforms such as WhatsApp and Snapchat, while some girls have experienced “unwanted touching in school corridors”. The watchdog visited 32 state and private schools and colleges and spoke to more than 900 young people about sexual harassment after thousands of testimonials were posted on a website. In April, the Government asked the schools watchdog to look at safeguarding policies and experiences in schools and colleges following the deluge of anonymous reports made to website Everyone’s Invited. On Wednesday night the website said it had reports of abuse from almost 3,000 schools in the UK. It’s alarming that many children and young people, particularly girls, feel they have to accept sexual harassment as part of growing upChief inspector of schools Amanda Spielman Amanda Spielman,…
Read More