A new children’s book “Not for Kids” has just been published, helping parents educate their kids about upsetting adult images and teaching them what they should do if they see any.
Yesterday in Australia it was reported that “PORNOGRAPHY is turning children into sexual predators and prompting them to commit acts of sexual harassment and abuse as young as the age of four.” Sounds a bit sensational, but it then went on with definite proof of some kids who’s lives were affected by porn as they grew up. “A man who masturbated so furiously he tore his penis, girls suffering from internal injuries consistent with rape after their porn-obsessed partners insist on increasingly rough sex, and teenagers developing drug and alcohol abuse problems.” This is just some of the long term affects early exposure can have on our children as they develop in the world of endless porn.
As I mentioned in my blog last week Liz Walker, a sex educator from Brisbane, said she was ‘catapulted’ into an awareness of her sexuality at 6 years of age, after an older girl sat next to her on a bus and showed her a pornographic magazine that she’d found under her brother’s bed. “It was very confusing and those images have stuck with me. I started to show very worrying sexual behaviours at a young age. I was seeking out those sexual interactions wherever I could because I thought that’s what women had to do to get noticed” she said. For her, seeing porn started a downward spiral of drinking and drugs that landed her in psychiatric wards in her teens and 20’s. Ms.Walker attributes this directly to her early exposure. “There was nothing else that contributed,” she said.
Unfortunately, in this day and age, it is almost inevitable that our kids are going to come across porn and we need to think seriously about how they are going to react to this. Are they going to start on a downhill slope like Liz did, or will it not have any effect on their lives at all? We can never be sure, which is why we must talk to our kids when they are young. We must teach our kids how to stay safe online and encourage them to seek help when they see upsetting adult images.
For Liz, she wonders how things would have been different if she’d talked to a trusted adult and asked for help. “At the time, I thought that by telling someone else, it would be me who got into trouble and I wasn’t even sure anyone would have understood. How very wrong I was. As it turns out, asking for help would have been the very best thing I could have done.” And it’s because of this that Liz is now a qualified sexuality educator and author. Her newly released book, “Not for Kids” teaches kids how to stay safe online and to seek help when they see upsetting adult images.
The book is all about Milly who loves to explore and learn. One day while using her friend’s phone, she sees images that make her feel sick. Milly was lucky to have a safe adult to help her through this experience and she now teaches kids that some adult behaviours can be harmful for children to see. Milly lets kids know that coming across these images is not their fault and she reminds them to always seek help from an adult if they see things that are not meant for kids eyes.
This is great! I am so often asked for resources and they are hard to find. Thanks!
Warmly, Sally