Lesson video

Hi there, everyone, my name is Ms. Shaw.

Really pleased you're joining me today for this lesson, in which we'll be focusing on the impact of viewing explicit materials on attitudes and behaviour.

So this lesson will focus on the impact of viewing explicit materials on attitudes and behaviour, including reinforcing stereotypes, influencing attitudes, and encouraging acceptable behaviours, e.

g.

unconsciously imitating.

This lesson covers sensitive topics; therefore we recommend checking with a trusted adult before starting, or doing the lesson with a trusted adult nearby.

For the lesson, you're going to need an exercise book, or some paper, and a pen, and also our brains.

Now hopefully you've completed your intro quiz already.

Firstly, we will be looking at the impact of viewing explicit content on behaviour.

We will then investigate stereotypes and look at influencing attitudes.

Then we'll cover explicit content influencing acceptable behaviours.

And then key learning points, and you will complete your exit quiz finally.

The keywords for this lesson are explicit material, which refers to any media which contains content of an adult nature; stereotypes, which means a widely held belief or expectation of a particular category or a certain group of people; acceptable behaviours, which are in reference to unwritten rules of behaviour that are deemed acceptable within society; and unconsciously imitating, which means you're being more likely to copy something or someone simply by viewing or watching their behaviours.

But in this section, we're going to focus on the impact of viewing explicit materials on attitudes and behaviours.

So firstly I'd like you to consider what is meant by the term explicit content or material, particularly in reference to what you're viewing online.

So I'd like you just to pause for a few seconds here to make a suggestion of what you think is meant by the term explicit content or material.

Pause here and then come back when you've got an idea.

So explicit content or material refers to any media, so including images or music or films that we watch, which includes any sort of adult content.

So this could be bad language or something of a maybe sexual nature that young people really shouldn't be exposed to.

And as children explore the internet, they're bound to come across things that really are not appropriate for their age range, and also might be quite upsetting to them.

So for example, you might find things like images of bombings or terror attacks or cruelty to animals.

You might find links to self-harm sites or hate sites or online porn, violence, or any sort of distressing content.

And it's really important that we know what to do if that happens and how we can prevent that.

Now I'd like you to read here and think about which of the following statements about explicit material is false.

So pause here, have a read through, and then come back when you've chosen which option you think is false.

So were you correct? Well, young people might see things online which is completely unsuitable for their age or development stage.

It's possible to access explicit content on any device on which the internet is available.

What is seen can be interpreted differently depending on the maturity level of the child.

And it's actually 63% of teens say that they accidentally come across explicit content online and this being an issue for them.

So viewing content which you may find upsetting is an issue associated with being exposed to explicit content.

Do you think this is a true or false statement? We're to pause here just to consider this, and then choose which one you think is the correct answer.

It is in fact true.

Other issues include that it might be of a nature aimed at adult viewers and it may contain inaccurate information or information that could lead to potentially unlawful behaviour as well.

But did you know, according to "Internetmatters" on the website that you can access, the following facts all apply.

One third of British children age 12 to 15 have encountered racist or sexist or discriminatory content online.

56% of 11 to 16 year olds have seen explicit material online.

One out of five children are scared to report the explicit content that they've been exposed to, and 1 in 10 children aged 8 to 11 said that they've seen something upsetting or worrying online.

Now this is really quite a lot, and really demonstrates how easy it is to be able to access things that you really shouldn't be accessing, which is why it's really important for us to understand how we can avoid doing that and the potential impact that it might have on our attitudes and our behaviours.

Now in this section, we're going to investigate how viewing explicit material can reinforce stereotypes and encourage acceptable behaviours, such as unconscious imitation.

So being exposed to explicit material can impact our attitudes and behaviours.

What I'd like you to do here is to pause and make a list of any ways that you think this might happen.

So how does being exposed to explicit material impact potentially on our attitudes and our behaviours? Pause and then return when you've made your list.

So how did your answers compare with mine? Well, being exposed to explicit content can impact on attitudes and behaviours in a number of ways, including causing offence or causing you to be upset about something.

It might encourage you to think in a certain way about something that you had no opinion about previously.

It could also encourage stereotypical attitudes, which can then cause damage because they can normalise non-consensual behaviour or encourage prejudice, too.

They might contain bad language, which you then go on to copy, or they could encourage young people to engage in activities that they wouldn't normally consider at all.

It could also lead to radicalization.

Now these are all things that eventually can cause long-term lasting effects and damage.

So I'd like you to think here about which online activities could increase the chances of young people coming across harmful, explicit online.

So pause here to make a list of suggestions, and then resume when you've got your list made.

So how did your list compare with mine? Well, the following online activities increase the chances of seeing harmful explicit online.

So for example, using apps or playing on games which are not age-appropriate.

Now we know that most social media sites have an age limit or age restriction of you being 13 before you can access them.

However, there are other games that you can play online that will have an age 15 rating or an age 18 rating, because they're really not appropriate for younger people to be playing.

Joining social media platforms below the required age, like we said.

The minimum age restriction of 13 is there for a reason.

Taking part in or watching livestream gaming content that might be inappropriate because you're not controlling what you're hearing from other people, and it's not being monitored or regulated by anybody who's an appropriate adult.

You might be on an inappropriate site where pop-ups might be an issue, so they pop up on your screen, you can't control that, and you might see something that could cause offence and be upsetting, or potentially someone shared something with you, one of your online friends, and you're then sharing it on, or someone sent to you something that they think is a joke or banter, and it's just not appropriate.

So I want you to think here about which of the following statements about avoiding explicit content is false.

So pause here to read through the options, and then come back when you've chosen which option you think is false.

So were you correct? It is a really good idea to ask parents to set up parental control restrictions via your internet provider.

And there are lots of organisations out there who can give you advice on how to stay safe.

You should also maybe set up a family agreement with clear, online boundaries and make sure you adhere to those.

And if you have concerns about what you've seen, it really is not best to keep quiet and try to forget about it.

Try and get support and help in speaking to a trusted adult or somebody else that you trust can really help and give you that support and guidance.

So the key learning from this lesson is that being exposed to explicit content can be really harmful to young people.

Also, there are many ways in which young people can be exposed to the explicit content.

It's really important to be able to recognise how explicit content can affect our behaviours and attitudes.

And always having that appropriate knowledge is vital.

Always make sure that you seek support and guidance from a trusted adult or from online charities or agencies that you know and trust to get that support and guidance.

Now I'd like you to pause the video here to complete your exit quiz to check your understanding of the content of this lesson.

Well done on completing the first lesson in this unit.

I will look forward to seeing you again some other time.

By for now.