Open letter to ChildLine: Stop normalising the use of pornography to children

Stop normalising porn. Full stop.

Normalising porn normalised violence against women. It doesn't relate to any narrative where sex is enjoyed most by both partners in a loving and trusting environment.

10 years investigating Child Abuse crimes and yes, porn is damaging to children, abusers use it to groom.

Childline has lost the plot on this issue.

Keep children as children!

Child line is there to support children, many thousands of whom are victims of child rape which is used as pornography. Promoting children’s viewing of pornography is abhorrent.

The Childline website has a section on porn which tells children that it’s not against the law for U18’s to watch porn a d they shouldn’t feel worried about it, but that it’s a choice. It also tells them that they should be careful about malware if they download it - because obviously that’s the main problem!

This is disgusting. I for one will not be supporting child pornography!!

As a former porn performer, I know that porn should not be normalized for children.

Teaching children about porn is a huge red flag. All sorts of safeguarding issues come to mind. Why are they so keen to promote the sexualisation of children

Pornography includes torture. Children must never be encouraged to watch pornography.

Porn is not normal. Sex is

Introducing children to porn is grooming and child sexual abuse. It's not to be tolerated.

Porn is harmful to both boys and girls-it has also morphed into grotesque violence against women and girls.

Nobody should be promoting porn to children, even if the intention is to warn them of its worst excesses.

This is extremely irresponsible and amounts to child abuse itself. -- Dawn Hawkins, CEO, National Center on Sexual Exploitation

Safeguarding?

WTF Childline? I can see what you were trying to do here but you've failed. There must be better ways to promote healthy relationships and sex. The presenter is typically laddish and full of banter - the kind of behaviour we need to discourage in boys. He shows little respect for woman in his commentary. Firstly, he says 'porn is fun' (yes, it's great fun watching violence against women which is the content of too much porn), then he says 'all that flesh' (what a creep!) and finally, 'there's a wall of vaginas behind me - pussibilities' (no, they are vulvas, you can't even get basic biology right and what a creep again!) This is a complex issue, for example, how can you tell if the sex watched in free online porn is actually consensual? You've put a serious bit in after all the 'fun, fun, fun' as if that's the complexity dealt with. Will kids even bother to listen to that bit? Ditch this video and get a grown up - maybe a woman with some empathy and understanding - to teach boys about respect and boundaries (it's alright to tell children certain things, are not OK, you know) and to teach girls they don't need to act like porn stars. Free, easy access online porn is damaging our children - as you Childline are aware. Sort this error of judgement out.

Porn is detrimental to girls and boys

We are allowing children to be the guinea pigs experimented on by sex obsessed adults...this couldn't be more dangerous!