Compulsory sex and relationships education did not feature in the election campaigns - the announcement having already been made that it was on the way. If the proposal survives the political turmoil of the next few months, then both the curriculum choices made and the justifications for those choices will come under intense scrutiny. SRE remains a controversial topic, with even supporters disagreeing on what exactly should be taught in schools. The Department for Education will need a full roster of experts to help form the curriculum and then defend it.
If the DfE intends to address the impact of porn on young people, it would do well to include Justin Hunt in that group.
The journalist-turned-film director is behind the documentary Addicted To Porn: chasing the cardboard butterfly. Not only does it address porn’s impact on people’s lives - something cited as a key reason for the need for better and compulsory SRE - but he’s also developed curriculum materials to go with it.
Hunt says it is incredibly important that porn is addressed in education. The reason is subtly implanted in the subtitle of the film: “the cardboard butterfly”.
As Hunt explains, it’s based on Nobel prize-winning Dutch scientist Nikolaas Tinbergen’s study of supernormal stimulus. He found a subspecies of butterfly in which the male selects females based on the size and colours of their wings. He tested the males and found they were more attracted to the brighter, bigger cardboard models that he made than the real females among them.
“That’s the analogy of where we’re heading,” explains Hunt. “That people are choosing synthetic relationships over authentic ones.”
This process is starting from an earlier and earlier age. “According to the source we used, 10 is the age at which kids start searching for porn,” reveals Hunt. “That’s not bumping into it accidentally; that is proactively looking online for pornographic material.”
Much like his exposés on drugs (American Meth) and absent fathers (Absent), Hunt tackles porn addiction from an objective stance, looking at the science, specifics and effects without looking to judge or demonise.
While the addicts in the film - who were more than happy to come forward and discuss the debilitating effects pornography has had on their lives - are adults, Hunt is keen to highlight the fact that these issues now start affecting people at much younger ages. “I’ve heard from many, many parents concerned and confused about what to do with their teenager, who they fear is addicted to porn,” he reveals.
It’s why the film intentionally shows no provocative scenes in order to be suitable for children. And it’s why Hunt has also created a set of curriculum resources, “Pornography and Technology in Modern Culture” (atpdoc.com/resources), to help parents and schools start a conversation on the potential dangers to individuals and their relationships.
“There really is no kind of material out there right now that handles that age group when it comes to instructing them about the dangers of technology and pornography,” he says. “We knew that when people had finished the film, there were going to be questions on their minds, especially parents and educators. They were going to wonder, ‘Where do we go from here?’, and we wanted to try and give them an answer for that.”
Starting the conversation
The curriculum is, in effect, a scheme of work that can be used across five lessons. Students watch the film and then there are resources to run scaffolded Q and A sessions between students and the teacher, using the research Hunt collected for the film. In the final session, students gather in small groups.
“They make pledges of ‘I will always’ or ‘I will never’ when it comes to being better ‘digital citizens’ and being more responsible with technology and pornography,” says Hunt. The curriculum also includes three homework assignments that engage the parents and start a dialogue at home about what is acceptable when it comes to technology and pornography.
“In essence, the assignments help to start the conversations that a lot of parents are afraid to approach, or are simply unaware need to be approached,” he explains.
The Q and A focuses on two key topics: the false sense of anonymity that can be created by technology, which can be a key source of bullying or shaming, and helping students to understand just what intimacy is. “Not just in the sexual sense,” explains Hunt, “but how pornography and technology can have a devastating effect on one’s ability to be intimate and have meaningful relationships.”
The roll-out of the curriculum has only just started, and Hunt is looking for organisations and educational groups to take the resources and “plug them in” to lesson plans.
But he is equally happy for teachers to take these ideas and create their own resources. What is important, he says, is that we do something. And fast.
Adam Rees is a freelance journalist
