Safeguarding questions for young people and children who view p*rn

Because asking if ‘you watch or have seen’ it isn’t enough

Also NOT ‘use’ or ‘consume’ it.

When talking to young people who have accidentally viewed, watched or been sent p*rn (eg in a direct message) or for those who seek it out purposefully (for reasons I cover in my course), we have to slow down and think before responding with the hysteria that I have been watching develop over the last year or so with the new rise of folk (aka grifters) who are now ‘experts’ in this area with little to no training or education in this topic, who see they can cash in on the panic and shame of blame.

Oh... but think of the kids Cath.... It's awful!!

This is known as a hot potato topic and in order to talk to you about it I have to censor certain aspects online for it to reach you in a manner that is balanced, is from 20+ years of working with young people who view this content.

Why the ‘what’ and why you need to be able to ask about ‘it’ in a trauma responsive manner in order to safeguard children and why this is more of a problem for the adults than it is the kids in most cases...

Because it's not necessarily ‘where did they see it, for how long and how often?’

It's what kind (or type or genre or depiction of etc).

So let’s start with a simile; the weather. At the time of writing this blog storms were heading to the UK, which is a form of weather.

A type of which we needed to know about, prepare for and be concerned about. And many of you were concerned, you might have had emails or text messages from utility companies assuring they would keep going regardless of the wind and rain, and had a contingency plan in place, helping you feel a touch more relaxed about the impact of said storm.

But what is storm, when does it become one and how is this classified, and what criteria is used to denote this? After all ‘bad weather’ or ‘stronger patterns’ or rain, hail and the almighty winds combined can be inconvenient, but when they are prolific it is a storm. But it’s still ‘weather’. If you know the type you know what you need in terms of protection.

Would you prepare for the April showers in the same way? Would you be concerned about misty mornings, low level winter sun or would it be specific to the time of year and perhaps even dangers that the weather can present when they are more or less than ‘a brief shower’ for example?

Ahh you say that depends ...and so does the type of p*rn viewing habits a young person is engaged in and with and most importantly why.

Are you trained to know when to refer and to whom, when to be worried, when to consider this a pathway to the police, or prevent, coercive control services, harmful s*xual behaviour services, or to ask for family interventions such as social care, or to ask and refer into a therapist who is competent in understanding s*xual development of children and p*rn viewing habits and harms?

Where do you go for evidence-based scripts on what to give to parents/carers and guardians to help them in helping the young person or child who may have been exposed to this, sent it or found it through accidental or even purposeful searching? How do you talk to them about it, from your professional lens or with the values you think you bring to this conversation?

I suspect that these answers are not ones ready at the end of everyone’s tongue, and they are questions I have found myself being asked in both therapy and by parents who know I teach this stuff. And, yep even by s**-ed and RSE tutors and by therapists unskilled in this topic.

So let me provide some helpful considerations for you as a professional and then point you to some resources

Legal or not?

Ah well, this question can be misunderstood as against the law is not the same as breaking the law. This means that a child viewing p*rn may/might or could be a safeguarding issue or not, and or it can be seen from the legislation of the Online Safety Act. In short, the OSA says illegal material for under 18s in the priority content list is s*xual material (p*rn) deemed to be over 18 and assessed on the site. But, this is a platform legal duty not criminal law (I know right?) because viewing ‘legal p*rn’ is not a crime. Technically.

However!... if you have had your eyes and ears open you will have seen that the UK is now making changes to what we consider as being legal p*rn in this country. So this now most certainly means safeguarding professionals need to know what type because some forms of p*rn will become illegal to view if indeed this law becomes more than the possession of or uploading of.

Confused? Let us continue...

How will you know what is illegal to view if it is not viewed on a p*rn site? Will you ask if it is a file on a device, or was it viewed on a specific website? Do you know why you need to know these differences and what for, and of course what the rules are for online content that is not hosted on a p*rn site for example, accessed using accounts that are or do not belong to a young person, on a device that is not theirs, on a site hosted out of the UK and so on and so on....

As I am limited by word count on a blog and at this stage of it may have created a panic of ‘sorry wait what?’ I need to refer you to my training because I cover these questions and issues because you likely won’t have this in your e-safety policy, your digital safeguarding training or clinical supervision/line management and if you are a therapist working with young people it's very likely not in your training either.

What is the crisis, the children viewing this material and not having a trained person to talk to about it or adults not knowing what they are supposed to do, say ask or help with and why?

Other questions I cover in the training are; how did they get here, what’s the link between viewing and harm, what is the link between harm then viewing, what is the link between context, household history and family values, what is the link between media effects, actor network, s*xology and this behaviour and most important what does rigorous research look like in this space when it comes to children and young people and what you need to consider as normative developmental and non-normative and what has changed in the last 30 years about access, impact and cybertrauma with this content. (apparently the day is jam packed with what you need to know!)

For young people: a free download you can share I have created a free resource for young people. If you work with children and young people, you are welcome to share it with them: find the young people's download here. It asks for their age only, so they get the right version, and collects no names, emails or personal details.

Train with me: courses for professionals If you work with children, as a teacher, safeguarding lead, clinician, social worker or youth practitioner, my courses turn the research behind posts like this into practice you can use, including the full day on young people and p*rn viewing that this blog only touches on. Explore courses at Children and Tech

Book Catherine: events, speaking and corporate For keynotes, conferences, events and corporate work, including cybersecurity, online harms and the human side of security, book me at catherineknibbs.co.uk.

About the author: Dr Catherine Knibbs is an Online Harms Consultant, Consultant Child and Adult Trauma Psychotherapist, Functional Health Practitioner, TEDx Speaker, and author of 7 books. Her PhD research focused on children aged 7–10 exposed to violence and gore online.