Ahead of his visit to Guernsey to speak at an event this Saturday, Fulham Boys School headteacher David Smith said the reason he chose to take such a strong stance against smartphones in his school was because of the huge effect online content can have on young people.
‘Every time an issue happens in the world, we have to educate ourselves and then educate the boys, issues such as the manosphere and Andrew Tate, misogyny, pornography, sexual exploitation, the London riots, whatever it is, we’re always on the back foot because our young people see online what the world says about it and then we have to jump in and re-educate,’ he said. ‘We want to control that narrative.’
He said a Year 10 student once admitted to him that he had first watched pornography on a school trip and he had been addicted ever since.
‘We know that 11% of 11-year-old boys nationally are already addicted to pornography, and we know that 85% of pornography involves violence and abuse to women,’ said Mr Smith.
‘We have to educate around sex before they’re having sex and we have to handle some of these big topics in the world before they are bombarded with what to believe about themselves.’
Despite most major social media platforms trying to block explicit content, their reliance on automated moderation means they cannot guarantee that children will not encounter it unintentionally.
Research by the Children’s Commissioner for England in 2023 found that 79% of children had encountered violent pornography before the age of 18 and the average age that children first saw pornography was 13 years old.
Cases such as the conviction in Guernsey earlier this year of a boy who, aged only 13, raped and sexually assaulted a girl, including trying to choke her, raised questions about the possible cause behind cases of unusual or harmful sexual behaviour in young people.
It is a subject that is taken seriously by the authorities in Guernsey.
‘Harmful sexual behaviours are a complex topic, and Public Health’s approach to it is a collaborative effort across multiple services within the States of Guernsey,’ said Jenny Rivers-Moore, associate specialist in public health.
The Public Health team works with Kate Corcoran from the Sexual Health and Relationship Educators Service, the Harmful Sexual Behaviours Service within the Youth Justice Service, led by youth justice manager David Foote, as well as colleagues within Education and Children’s Services, to ensure a comprehensive, multi-agency, evidence‑informed perspective on the issue.
‘While we cannot comment on specific cases, we are aware that a substantial and growing body of international research indicates an association between young people’s exposure to online pornography and patterns of sexual behaviour that may be harmful, risky, or developmentally inappropriate.
‘However, it is important to recognise the complexity of this issue: pornography consumption does not cause harmful behaviour on its own, but can contribute to shifts in attitudes, expectations, and risk profiles, especially when content is violent, extreme, or accessed at a young age.’