Are You A Victim Of ‘Sexual Bullying’?

There is a new type of bullying that is emerging in school – sexual bullying.

Children as young as five have been found guilty of inappropriately touching other kids and many young girls claim to have been molested by classmates.

Government statistics say that there were 3,500 people excluded from schools in 2006 for sexual misconduct, which can mean anything from writing sexual graffiti through to serious physical assault. However, informal evidence suggests that the problem may be worse. A survey of 11 to 19-year-olds by the charity Young Voice found that one in ten had been forced to take part in a sex act against their will.

Michelle Elliot, of children’ charity Kidscape, says: ‘Sexual bullying has become much more prevalent. On the Kidscape helpline we used to get maybe one or two calls a year. Now we are getting two or three a week. It’s probably the tip of the iceberg’

A huge part of this iceberg is the issue of ‘verbal sexual bullying’. For example, the word ‘slag’ is used by many on a daily basis, and new ones such as ‘sket’ and ‘junge’ which have the same meaning are thrown around with equal malice. ‘Gay’ has also become an all-purpose term of abuse.

On the social networking site Bebo 25,000 homepages have the word ‘slut’ on them, which just illustrates just how widespread the problem is.

Sexual words can become sexual actions and so even playground bullying is becoming sexual too - there are numerous accounts of kids that have been sexually groped inside their own school. One teenager told how some of the boys he knew touched girls in inappropriate areas in public places at school. He claimed that teachers are completely oblivious to the issue.

But where has this new problem emerged from? One suggestion is that our everyday culture is filled with sexual references and for this reason parents are unable to shield their children from it. Most kids are fluent in sexual terminology long before they turn the legal age of consent at16, and often before they reach the age of ten.

One teenager, speaking at Beatbullying, supported this idea and blames popular culture and magazines which have thrown sex at her and her friends for years. She also blames music for sexual bullying saying that ‘most of the songs you hear are ‘sex this’ and ‘sex that’.

Others say it’s because of ‘gang culture’. In some cases, boys are told to have sex with particular girls as part of ‘initiation rites’, while young girls are bullied into performing sex acts for their ‘protection’.

Shockingly many teens believe that being exposed to sexual harassment is a fact of life – that it’s all around you; in school, out of school, when you’re with friends or at the weekend.

This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. The government is currently preparing advice and guidance for teachers on when they should step in. Yet if this problem is embedded in our culture, then what can the government do?

If you would like more information or advice on the topic of ‘sexual bullying’ please visit the following links:

Kidscape: http://www.kidscape.org.uk/

Beatbullying: http://www.beatbullying.org/

Young Voice: http://www.young-voice.org/