An Ofsted review has found that sexual harassment, including online sexual abuse, has become ‘normalised’ for children and young people in schools.
Around nine in 10 of the girls Ofsted spoke to said that sexist name calling and being sent unwanted explicit pictures or videos happened ‘a lot’ or ‘sometimes’.
Its review found that children often don’t see the point of challenging or reporting this harmful behaviour because it is seen as a normal experience.
Pupils said adults often don’t realise the prevalence of sexual harassment that occurs both inside and outside school, and Ofsted found that many teachers consistently underestimate the scale of these problems or didn’t identify sexual harassment and sexualised language as significant problems.
Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Any incidence of sexual harassment or assault is abhorrent. No child should fear going to school, and we must all look carefully at how we can change the attitudes in our society that lead to this behaviour being normalised.
“Keeping children safe is everyone’s responsibility, and local safeguarding partnerships, including councils, health providers and the police, along with schools, will want to consider carefully the findings and recommendations of this report.
“Good quality relationships and sex education will be a positive step in ensuring young people understand what healthy relationships look like, and the importance of consent, respect and privacy.”