Swedish pupils to discuss porn in class in new curriculum
Sweden's teachers are being encouraged to discuss pornography in sex education lessons under the new curriculum which comes into force this autumn.
The section in the curriculum on 'sex and co-habitation' has changed its name to 'sex, consent, and relations', and now explicitly instructs teachers to "critically discuss" pornography with students.
"Pupils should be given the possibility to develop a critical stance on how relationships and sexuality are depicted in the media and in other situations, including in pornography," the new curriculum reads.
Nina Rung, a campaigner whose book, The Big Porn Book, analyses pornography's affect on health, the brain and society, told Sweden's state broadcaster SVT that she believed students would benefit from schools raising pornography as an issue.
"There has never been such clear language in the curriculum that you should be given knowledge, on, for example, porn," she said, adding that having a more explicit discussion in schools over consent, and over whether what is depicted in pornography is acceptable was important.
"If you are 15 and in your first relationship, what should you know about what is actually a form of violence? Is it OK if someone uses belittling, humiliating language with you, hits you, pulls your hair, or puts you in a chokehold?"
She said that children were already taught very clearly about consent at preschool, with every young child taught to say stopp min kropp, or "stop, my body", if they are touched against their will, but she said that until now, there had been too little discussion of consent in the curriculum at primary and secondary school.
She said she hoped that discussing pornography more openly in schools would help children learn more about sexual boundaries in the digital arena, that, for instance, it is not OK to send unsolicited "dick pics".
"If you don't have anyone to turn to on this, then dick pics will be normalised more and more," she said.
Comments
See Also
The section in the curriculum on 'sex and co-habitation' has changed its name to 'sex, consent, and relations', and now explicitly instructs teachers to "critically discuss" pornography with students.
"Pupils should be given the possibility to develop a critical stance on how relationships and sexuality are depicted in the media and in other situations, including in pornography," the new curriculum reads.
Nina Rung, a campaigner whose book, The Big Porn Book, analyses pornography's affect on health, the brain and society, told Sweden's state broadcaster SVT that she believed students would benefit from schools raising pornography as an issue.
"There has never been such clear language in the curriculum that you should be given knowledge, on, for example, porn," she said, adding that having a more explicit discussion in schools over consent, and over whether what is depicted in pornography is acceptable was important.
"If you are 15 and in your first relationship, what should you know about what is actually a form of violence? Is it OK if someone uses belittling, humiliating language with you, hits you, pulls your hair, or puts you in a chokehold?"
She said that children were already taught very clearly about consent at preschool, with every young child taught to say stopp min kropp, or "stop, my body", if they are touched against their will, but she said that until now, there had been too little discussion of consent in the curriculum at primary and secondary school.
She said she hoped that discussing pornography more openly in schools would help children learn more about sexual boundaries in the digital arena, that, for instance, it is not OK to send unsolicited "dick pics".
"If you don't have anyone to turn to on this, then dick pics will be normalised more and more," she said.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.