Let’s talk

Adam Ezekiel – Director of Students 7-12

From the Director of Students

This week students in Year 9 and 10 received a presentation from Matt Friedman from ‘2 Birds 1 Bee’ on Pornography (Year 9) and Gender and Sexuality (Year 10).

Pornography

” Parents feel ill-equipped to have conversations around pornography with their kids. They need to protect their innocence online. What kids are seeing distorts their idea of sexuality and intimacy”. Michael Carr-Gregg

Talking to your child about watching pornography can be awkward and something that is easy to avoid. Young people are often getting misleading information about sexual relationships by watching pornography and this can have a big impact on their lives.

Some tips for talking to your child about porn:

Avoid shame – Shame often leads to secretive and potentially a more compulsive behaviour.
Assure them that their bodies response to pornography is normal.
Pornography normalises treating people as objects.
Just because some kids are watching porn, doesn’t mean that all kids are watching porn.
Assure your child that like all developmental milestones, this may not be something that they are ready to think about and that it is ok.

Parent resources about online pornography

Gender and sexuality

Gender, sex and sexuality are definitely not as black and white as some people think. The most important message to Year 10 students, was that they are not defined by their sexuality or gender. They are their own individual, and that’s awesome.

Below are some question prompts that may be helpful in a discussion with your child about gender and sexuality.