WE have spent several SMSC session and assemblies covering this topic and what it can look like in society. This year we have focused on the importance of the words we use, the problem with cyber flashing and the importance of knowing what consent is.
Why is HSB such a big focus?
HSB has become more widely recognised as an issue within society. There has been a greater encouragement for people to speak up about their experiences and to make clear that this behaviour is unacceptable.
We know that HSB can happen on and offline and we want you to be aware about the dangers and to be able to recognise when behaviour is unacceptable.
What can you do to help make a change?
• Report it! If you experience any kind of HSB or see something that concerns, you happen to someone else report it. This could be to a trusted adult, parent/ guardian, teacher or the police.
• Don’t engage in it! If someone tells a sexist, homophobic, transphobic joke or uses problematic language do not engage with it and do not laugh at it. We need to make clear to others that we don’t want this type of language to be part of our community.
• What about online? Remember it is a criminal offence to share explicit content. Children who share explicit content are breaking the law. If something is sent to you then you should report it.
Harmful Sexual Behaviour. Over the past two years Nunnery Wood has been working with students to find out more about their experiences of Harmful Sexual Behaviour. Using this information, we have developed educational resources and spent time on SMSC days covering this topic.
What does HSB look like?
Harmful Sexual Behaviour can take many forms along a spectrum. It includes sexist and stereotypical language but also more extreme behaviours such as sexual assault and rape. We know that HSB can take place both online and offline and therefore have been working with students to ensure that they are able to recognise unacceptable behaviour in order to keep themselves and others safe.
How can we improve young people’s experiences?
• The first thing we can do is check our language choices, by accepting sexist and stereotypical statements we make it more acceptable for people to then carry out other examples of HSB. We have been asking students to think before they speak and to recognise the power that their words have.
• Engage young people in conversations about keeping safe online and check that they know who to report any concerns to. Students live so much of their life online and because of this have experiences that we may not be aware of (cyber flashing is very common). Students can then normalise this behaviour so making time to discuss their online life is important.
• Make clear to students that reporting any example of HSB is important as it helps to make a wider change within our community.
Do you have a question or a topic that you would like to be covered in the advice section?
We want this section of the Nunnery News to be as useful as possible. If you have a question or would like some advice then please send an email to smsc@nunnerywood.worcs.sch.uk and we will choose a different question to answer in each edition of Nunnery News.
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