"Government to Teach Children About Internet Porn Instead of Stopping It" - Tóibín
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD responded to reports indicating that the draft NCCA Sex Education curriculum seeks to teach children about Internet pornography. An Teachta Tóibín stated;
“Children at Risk in Ireland (CARI), a specialist and professional therapy service for children who have been abused has found that there has been a 44% increase in sexual abuse and sexually harmful behaviour on children by children in the last 2 years. CARI found that many children happened upon pornographic sites during the Lockdowns and some of those children acted out scenes on other children, often their own siblings. This is shocking and heart breaking as it destroys the victim first and foremost, but it is also creating perpetrators of sexual crime of young children”.
“There has also been a massive increase in the number of sexual offences in society over the last 10 years. In 2011 there were 1958 Sexual offences recorded. In 2021 the figure increased by 75%to 3,433 sexual offences. In 2011 there were 447 rapes recorded. In 2021 it had doubled to 983 rapes. Sexual violence is increasing in Ireland at a horrific rate. We have ad 3 FG Ministers for Justice in that time and little if anything has been done to tackle what’s happening. In Ireland today primary school children have access to hard core violent pornography which is distorting their understanding of sexuality and relationships, creating copycat behaviour and leading to addiction. Internet pornography is an incredibly powerful material. One which even many adults find it extremely difficult to deal with”.
“The links between hardcore pornography being consumed by children as young as 10 years old and sexual violence and abuse is well known. A number of high profile cases such as the shocking and heart-breaking Ana Kriégel murder highlighted this. We in Aontú have raised the continuing proliferation of hardcore pornography via the internet among young children many times with the government. The government has shrugged its shoulders, stood idly by and done nothing. We introduced a Bill to the Dáil that would make it illegal for Internet Service Providers to provide hard core pornography to children. The FF/FG/Green government refused to help the bill proceed through the Dáil. The government could approach the Internet Service Providers and call on them to provide an opt-in safe internet service for families that would allow homes to be safe of the most violent material on the internet. But all we have seen in the last ten years from the government is paralysis”.
“Instead of tackling the consumption by children of hardcore pornography at source the government are going to allow it to continue and try to teach young children to navigate their way through it. While there does not seem to be much detail provided as to how this will be delivered, no doubt many parents will be extremely concerned at the this plan. That Relationship Education is increasingly outsourced to schools only is also of concern. A recent Dáil Education Committee heard that Teachers are increasingly uncomfortable teaching Sex Ed material as they felt that it is not age appropriate. We need to empower parents to be able to speak to their own children about sex and sexuality. Parents have their children’s best interest at heart and should feel comfortable discussing relationship issues with their children”.
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