Lucy Powell pledges compulsory lessons to tackle epidemic of child “sexting”

Lucy Powell today calls on David Cameron to act over the huge increase in “sexting” among children and pledges Labour will tackle the issue in classrooms.

The shadow education secretary described the issue as a “ticking time bomb” and said police figures showed a 12-fold increase in reports of under-16s “sexting” over the last two years.

Now Powell has said dealing with the epidemic will be “one of the first things” done by a Labour government and committed to making personal social health and economic education (PSHE), including age-appropriate sex and relationships education, a statutory subject in all state-funded schools, alongside a plan to train more teachers to cover the issue.

Powell has published a dossier outlining the issues facing children today including the threats of sexualisation, radicalisation, drug abuse and mental health problems.

She also said there had been a seventy-fold increase in the number of police investigations involving children sharing explicit messages or images.

“Every day we are seeing more evidence that access to new media and technology is creating new and unprecedented risks for young people,” Powell said.

“Yet David Cameron refuses to act and the last time guidance for schools was published [in 2000] before the smartphone generation were even born.

“Youngsters are being pushed into adult territory well before they are ready. Sexting among children is skyrocketing, they are easily straying into sinister corners of the internet leaving them vulnerable to exploitation, and shockingly children as young as 13 are starting to use dating and hook-up apps.”

Last month the Conservatives refused to commit to compulsory sex and relationship education despite evidence vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils in particular benefit from a personal social health and economic education. Some 88 per cent of teachers, 90 per-cent of parents and 92 per cent of young people support compulsory PSHE in schools.