The consequences of sexual immorality – Part 2
This second part of this post looks at the impact that sexual immorality is having in schools.
In April 2021 Lovewise published a very forthright blog post that considered the establishment of the “Everyone’s Invited” website, which contains the testimonies of those who have been a victim of abusive sexual behaviour in school, college and university. The post explored from a Christian perspective how we find ourselves in such a tragic state, and is available clicking here.
In June 2021, OFSTED published their “Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges” which identified that sexual harassment, including online sexual abuse, has become ‘normalised’ for children and young people. This report was the focus of an article in the August 2021 Evangelical Times – “Reaping the Whirlwind” – by Austen Walker. The article is written in a balanced and circumspect way and concludes with a section that poses some searching questions and thoughts on “The Vital Role of Parents”.
To quote from the article:
“Christian parents reading these things need to take seriously what is happening. Some will already have taken their children out of the state system providing home schooling or sending their children to Christian schools. However, the question of sexual harassment still exists. Our children will meet it in the workplace and in further education. Sadly, in some cases they may be confronted with it in the church they attend … What should we do, how can we protect and equip our children to face these situations?”
The author reminds parents that, “The Christian home must always be a place where there is freedom to talk openly and honestly. Two-way communication between parents and children is vital” – and poses the questions, “Would your children feel free to come home and talk to you? Would they feel too embarrassed, or, worse still, think you would not believe they were telling the truth? There needs to be a climate of love, trust and confidence”.
The article can be found by clicking here.
On December 6, 2021, a University College London-led report was published and the findings suggested that teenage girls are overwhelmingly affected by the impact of unwanted image-sharing and that the practice has become ‘dangerously normalised’ for many young people. Perhaps it is hard to believe that such things go on, yet they do – fuelled by the lack of a moral framework and that which God ordained for marriage viewed as being allowable and unrestrained outside of marriage together with pervasiveness of (handheld) technology and social media.
The UCL press release states “Among young people who said they had received unwanted sexual content online or had their image shared without their consent, 25% told a friend (27/106), 17% (18/106) reported issues to social media platforms, 5% (5/106) to parents and just 2% (2/106) to their school”. The report co-author, Dr Kaitlyn Regehr (University of Kent), said: “This is a societal issue and we need to help create environments where young people feel able to talk and safe enough to share their experiences. One of the key aims of our report is to help parents understand the digital landscape so – rather than being punitive – they can support their children in navigating this difficult terrain.”
The UCL press release can be found by clicking here and the report is available at “Understanding and Combatting Youth Experiences of Image-Based Sexual Harassment and Abuse”.
Sadly, although most people are concerned about the impact of technology on the mistreatment and abuse of others, all the while there is no acknowledgment of ‘original sin’, nor of the fallen state of mankind, and the Word of God is set aside, such that the moral decay in society and the impact that this has on children and young people will continue and accelerate.
(CViE would be pleased to hear from teachers, head teachers, governors, parents, young people and others involved in education as to what is happening in schools regarding harassment and abuse and the use of technology and social media to perpetuate this. Any responses will be treated anonymously and can be sent to enquiries@cvie.org.uk)
No doubt over the centuries, parents have thought that parenting is not easy, yet how prayer is needed for parents and their children that help and wisdom might be given to bring children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4).
In closing, we would add that copies of the CViE publication “Relationships” are still freely available and can be obtained by contacting: enquiries@cvie.org.uk or downloaded by clicking here.
The first part of this post can be found by clicking here.
[NOTE: Although we make every effort to ensure these links mentioned are accurate, up-to-date and relevant, CViE cannot take responsibility for content and pages maintained by external providers, nor do we endorse all information, religious views or opinions posted on these third-party websites.]
