Report on internet pornography highlights need for education, not restriction

One of my biggest concerns in recent years has been the effect of access to easily available internet pornography on the next generation of young people. Every time I ask an expert in the field to reassure me and tell me that I'm panicking too much, they shake their head and tell me that my fears are spot on.

It just takes a couple of clicks to arrive at free videos which depict women in a subjugative role, as little more than receptacles. The language used about those women is demeaning and deeply misogynistic. The expectations of a generation of boys are being guided by their access to this stuff.

The BBC reports on a study commissioned by the Office of the Children's Commissioner in England which recommends that sex education must adapt to take account of the effect of internet pornography and help children develop a resilience to its effects, which they outline as:

It can lead to more sexually permissive attitudes, more casual sex, sex at a younger age, and the belief that women are sex objects with males dominant and females submissive, suggests the study.

There is a correlation between children and young people who use pornography and "risky behaviours" such as anal sex, sex with multiple partners and using alcohol and other drugs during sex, say the authors.

What's also worrying is the gender difference - boys seeks this stuff out, while girls are much more wary of it.

I am pleased that the recommendations of the report emphasise the importance of education, robustly dealing with this stuff. Controversially, it suggests that it should be compulsory in all schools, including faith schools, colleges, private schools and academies. I think that is a very sensible approach to a problem which could ruin young people's lives. If you think I'm being melodramatic, we are already seeing young women put in horrible predicaments after being pressured into sexting. Note that the young men who put pressure on their girlfriends to supply the photos and subsequently breach their trust by distributing them to all and sundry seem to get away without attracting any sort of disapproval.

There was a tv series about 4 years ago where Channel 4 compared porn with reality. It busted a lot of myths and challenged young people's perceptions and expectations by showing them how real bodies looked and how the porn industry worked. That, to me, along with ensuring that our young people grow up knowing what a loving relationship is all about, is much more likely to be effective.

What relevance does this have for the Coalition? They now have to decide what to do with this report. Well, the Tories are more inclined towards  opt-ins and measures to get ISPs to restrict access. That's futile, to be honest. Even if your child is safe at home, they may not be round at their friends' houses. Not only that, but I feel very uneasy about having some piece of software at an ISP tell me that I can't access articles on breastfeeding. I wrote about this last year:

 A ban, though is unworkable. It's much worse to hand over control of what I consider acceptable for my daughter (or me to that matter) to see to the likes of BT or Orange. When I think that sites likeMark Pack's blog have been blocked for having pornographic content by some providers, you see how easily mistakes can be made. While that's a humourous example, I also would not like to think that a teenager looking for advice on safe sex or maybe coming to terms with their own sexuality would not be able to find what they need. I know that there are some things that my daughter would find way too exruciating to talk to me about, so inobtrusively providing her with access to accurate, reliable information is important to me.

I hope that our ministers within the Coalition will press the need fro compulsory, evidence based, quality sex education for all young people. That to me is the most liberal solution.

I also hope that this report will make the men who tell me that I am a humourless, frigid killjoy when I write about these things take notice and realise that we need to take action to deal with the effects of such easy access to pornography, which perseverate long after the initial viewing of the pornography.

Youth unemployment figures highlight need for more college places - support Willie Rennie's campaign

Hardly a day goes by at the moment without me hearing about some friend or family member's job being in danger. Knowing what I know about the welfare system in this country, I am fully aware that it doesn't provide nearly enough of a safety net for people and losing an income can be absolutely catastrophic. We've been there ourselves - Bob was made redundant in 1994 and we had to live on what I was bringing in. We didn't even have children then, but it was quite a scary time, especially as it was implied to Bob that at his age he'd find it difficult to find work again. Imagine being thrown on the scrap heap at 42? Not a good feeling, I can assure you.

When the unemployment figures came out when Labour were in power, it used to really annoy me to hear Gordon Brown gloating that the number of people out of work was falling across the UK when it was going up in Scotland. You never really heard Jim Murphy talk about the human cost of losing your job. Mike Moore, on the other hand, puts people at the heart of his comments. Yesterday's unemployment figures for Scotland showed a 5000 increase in 3 months. That's around half a football stadium of families and households in crisis.

Mike said:

"The Scottish unemployment figures are a stark reminder we cannot allow any let up in our efforts to get the economy back to full health and people back into work as soon as possible. Each of these numbers represents an individual or a family directly affected by the economic downturn and the UK Government is doing all it can to create growth and reverse this trend.

"The urgency of protecting the UK economy has never been clearer as we witness events in the Eurozone. It is essential that we keep working towards securing strong and sustainable growth for the long term.

"Youth unemployment is a specific concern and I will meet labour market and  employment and skills experts next week to look at the issue in depth. That will help shape the objectives of Scotland's first national youth convention I have organised for March next year, which follows on from a series of seminars across Scotland. These have brought together Council leaders, employers, UK and Scottish Government agencies and local providers to work harder and better for the benefit of jobless young Scots. "

My heart absolutely breaks for young people who aren't able to find a job. We saw a generation put on the scrap heap in the 80s and it just can't happen again. The presence of Liberal Democrats in the Government should help to ensure that there are opportunities for young people. Mike Moore announced yesterday a scheme to give young people an extra 4 weeks' work placement, giving 12 weeks in total, so long as it leads to an apprenticeship. With the Scottish Government saying it'll provide an extra 25000 apprenticeships, this could be an example of much needed grown up working together on the part of Holyrood and Westminster.

What's stopping me shouting about this from the rooftops is this report in yesterday's Guardian in which young people complain about the hours and conditions in which they are being made to work. The potential for unscrupulous employers to exploit these young people. Why take on any employees when you get a steady stream of work experience people for free? What I will say is that the way this works in Scotland seems to be different in that an apprenticeship must be forthcoming at the end of the 12 weeks - but does this mean that  young people can still be put on work experience placement for 8 weeks with nothing at the end of it.

I know that experience in the workplace is quite important to get a job in the first place, but I just feel that there isn't much incentive in this to employers to take on permanent workers. Before I make my mind up on this, I'd like to get some feedback from young people who have been through this programme. My instinct is that without the apprenticeship at the end it does more harm than good.

The conclusion to draw is that by involving apprenticeships, Vince and Mike have made this a lot better. Mike has also been doing lots to specifically tackle youth unemployment. I can't imagine for a minute David Mundell as Secretary of State in a majority Tory Government doing the same.

There is a bit more that the Scottish Government can be doing, though. Because the Coalition is putting money into the FE sector in England, John Swinney's coffers are swelled by an extra £67 million in consequentials. Under the Barnett Formula, whenever new money is invested in England and Wales, we get a proportionate sum but it's up to the devolved government how to spend it.

Willie Rennie wants the SNP Government to put £40 million into Scotland's colleges to restore the 8560 places being cut due to the current funding crisis. If young people can't get jobs, surely we should be investing in college places to make sure that we have the skills to take advantage of the opportunities available. Green technology for example, is part of the way out of economic gloom for Scotland. If we are going to be the renewables powerhouse of the world then we need to have skilled people to operate, for example, windfarms. That's why Tavish Scott last year had a real go a the First Minister last year for not saving a course for wind turbine technicians at Carnegie College.

Liberal Democrats banging on about College courses is nothing new - in the last Parliament this was our budget priority every year and we usually managed to get the Government to do more on student bursaries or college places or both. This year, though, with this extra money, there's a chance to make a real difference to to 8560 young people. If you'd like to support Willie's campaign, do so here where you'll also find details of cuts to places in your area.

Liberal Democrats triumph in Highland Youth Hustings

From my friends in the north:

While the party leaders were getting ready for last night's TV debate, candidates from all parties were facing their own challenge in front of young people drawn from all over the Highlands at Action for Children's Quiz the Biz event in Inverness.

After exploring stalls from all the parties and taking part in political speed-dating with candidates, the climax of the evening was a secret ballot conducted by Highland Returning Officer Alistair Dodds.  The same event in 2007 sucessfully predicted the outcome of the main election a few weeks later.

After meeting Highland candidates Liberal Democrats Christine Jardine & Alan MacRae, as well as Fergus Ewing & John Finnie from the SNP, Mary Scanlon and Karensa Carr from the Tories, Rhoda Grant and Linda Stewart from Labour and Eleanor Scott from the Greens, the votes of the young people of the Highlands were as follows:

- Lib Dem 18 (38%)

- SNP 13 (28%)

- Labour 11 (23%)

- Green 5 (11%)

- Conservative 0

Turnout: 77%

What a great idea for a debate! Political speed dating seems to be the trend of the moment as there have been a few events set up on these lines. Basically groups of people get to fire some rapid questions at politicians who then move on to the next table when a bell rings. It's quite an intense experience, but great fun, and you get much more contact than at a normal hustings meeting. 

Action for Children do so much to support vulnerable children and young people. It's great to see them getting young folk interested and involved in the political process and allowing people to meet politicians not just in person but online via social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter (which is down right now, else I'd link to #quizthebiz.

It's also encouraging to see that young people still seem to like what the Liberal Democrats are saying.