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Scotsman
a day ago
- General
- Scotsman
Why teachers need to talk about pornography to stop epidemic of sexual violence
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... We need to talk about sex. Or at least the version of sex that our young people are devouring online. Sex where it is 'normal' for a man to choke a woman to the verge of her passing out. Sex where violence, including rape, is considered acceptable behaviour. Sex where young women boast about having group sex, preferably in front of a camera. Shocking? Certainly, but for many of our young people, perhaps the majority, this is how they perceive sexual relationships. For a generation raised on hardcore pornography, sexual abuse is mainstream. Normal even. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad I thought I was impervious to shock, but on Tuesday morning I sat in a room in central Edinburgh listening to a group of experts in sexual health and violence against women calmly explain how our children's minds are being distorted – literally – by the easy availability of pornography. While boys may have once passed round dog-eared copies of Playboy behind the bike sheds, today's young men have hardcore pornography in their blazer pocket, sadistic sex just one click away on their smartphone. Social media can provide easy access to pornography that rewires the teenage brain and is as addictive as cocaine (Picture: Matt Cardy) | Getty Images Porn stars on TikTok Easy access to pornography rewires the teenage brain. It is as addictive as cocaine. The dopamine hit from watching 'breath play' – a euphemism for strangulation – is as important to an adolescent as the junk food they crave. And it's not just boys who are affected. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad One of the most popular TikTok brands is the Bop House, a group of beautiful young women who share a Florida mansion where they make 'adult content' for OnlyFans. Many of their 90 million followers on social media are teenage girls, convinced that creating porn is an aspirational lifestyle choice. READ MORE: Majority of Scots want to see pimping websites banned The seminar organised by Beira's Place – the female-only Edinburgh support service founded by author and women's rights campaigner JK Rowling in 2022 – was no mere talking shop. It was designed with a practical purpose in mind, as the centre's chief executive, Lesley Johnston, explained: 'We hope to leave attendees with ideas for concrete action that can be taken in order to address the impact of pornography on levels of violence against women.' And while the evidence from the panel experts was at times profoundly depressing, it was countered with some optimism. Mary Sharpe, chief executive of the Reward Foundation, a charity which provides free training materials for schools and parents, pointed out that while internet pornography is one of the key drivers of the epidemic of violence against women and girls, there is hope that the trend can be reversed. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'The good news is that when users quit porn the brain settles down and appreciation of women often improves,' she said. Teachers self-censoring in class But how to get young people to quit what has become for many a daily habit? An expert in teacher education believes the answer lies in how teachers themselves are taught. Shereen Benjamin, a senior lecturer in primary education at the University of Edinburgh, told me that teachers and student teachers find it 'extraordinarily difficult' to discuss porn and its impact on children and young people. 'Frank discussions become impossible as people self-censor through fear of being seen as insufficiently knowledgeable, as prudish, or alternatively as knowing too much,' she said. And she suggested that any roomful of student teachers will almost certainly contain people who have been affected, and possibly traumatised, by their own experiences of online porn. 'This makes it even harder to raise the issues,' she said. Many schools deal with the difficult subject of pornography by inviting outside agencies to help deliver relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education for their students, but Benjamin believes the use of external providers prevents teachers from developing ways of handling the topic in the classroom. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Whilst it may be tempting for school leaders to respond by inviting outside agencies to deliver classroom input on porn, this does not tackle the problem of porn being a 'no-go area' for teachers, and there are risks associated with handing any part of the curriculum over to unaccountable outside groups,' she said. The way to equip teachers with the skills to handle challenging topics such as porn was by teaching them how to approach the subject with 'courage, openness and intellectual rigour', Benjamin argued. Abusive teenage relationships Another intervention may be as straightforward as banning mobile phones in schools. Conference delegates heard evidence that smartphones are used by boys, not only to access pornography or to blackmail a girl by threatening to send intimate material to her parents, but to control their girlfriends in the classroom. Anne Robertson Brown, executive director of Women's Aid in Angus, said that often boys will demand photographic evidence of where a girl is sitting in class. And the scale of abusive teenage relationships, often fuelled by porn, is such that Angus Women's Aid has established a project that supports girls under 18 suffering abuse. 'We have a major issue,' she said. 'It is not just in Angus. It is across Scotland.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Pornography is big business. Platforms such as OnlyFans and Pornhub earn tens of millions for their owners, and they are rapidly becoming an accepted part of our contemporary culture. And despite 30 years of campaigning by women's groups and significant changes in the law, sexual violence against women and girls is on the rise. The police recorded almost 64,000 incidents of domestic abuse in 2023-24, an increase of 3 per cent compared to the previous year. And 37 per cent of sexual crimes recorded in 2022–23 involved victims under 18. Weaning our children off hardcore pornography will not be easy. It will likely require a tougher regulatory framework for social media, a ban on mobile phones in schools, and more effective training and support for teachers so that they can cope with the epidemic of porn in Scotland's classrooms.
Scotsman
4 days ago
- General
- Scotsman
Given SNP's broken promises, no wonder teachers are on brink of industrial action
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Many people will remember a particular teacher who made a real difference to their lives. However, if that teacher had been overworked, disillusioned and stressed out, would they have made the same life-changing impact? According to a new survey by the EIS union – of more than 10,700 teachers across Scotland – one in ten teachers work the equivalent of two days a week without pay while more than four in ten work seven hours a week unpaid. Two-thirds said they were either 'dissatisfied' or 'very dissatisfied' with their workload and only 17.5 per cent were 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Later this week, the union will open a consultative ballot on industrial action over the Scottish Government's failure to reduce the 'persistent, excessive workload demands being placed on teachers at all grades and at all stages of their careers'. Scotland's future depends to a great extent on having highly motivated teachers, not stressed out, overworked ones (Picture: Matt Cardy) | Getty Images Future depends on well-educated workforce This has been a long time coming. Four years ago, the SNP promised to reduce the time teachers spend in the classroom by 90 minutes a week "to give them the time they need to lift standards". However EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said there had been 'absolutely no tangible progress towards delivering it, and no proposals as to how it will be delivered'. This is a familiar story for SNP watchers – the rhetoric can sound good, but seldom leads to tangible, real-world improvements, whether in education, the NHS, the transport network, climate change and so on. However the failure to address our education system's worrying slide down international league tables is perhaps the most worrying of all the nationalists' failures, given this country's future depends on having a well-educated workforce. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad All across the country, teachers want to do their best for the children in their charge but their spirit is being slowly crushed by overly large classes regularly disrupted by children whose additional needs require more specialist care.
Wales Online
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Festival-goers warned to watch out for ‘ticket traps' when booking summer events
Festival-goers warned to watch out for 'ticket traps' when booking summer events With many events taking place over the summer, fans desperate to get their hands on coveted tickets to see their favourite bands perform live could be susceptible to scams Fans desperate to get their hands on coveted tickets could be susceptible to scams (Image: Matt Cardy/Getty ) Festival and concert-goers are being warned to watch out for "ticket traps" set by fraudsters to steal their cash. With many events taking place over the summer, fans desperate to get their hands on coveted tickets to see their favourite bands perform live could be susceptible to scams. Pearl Akintola, a consumer fraud expert at credit information company Experian, said: "It is vital that consumers are aware of the potential traps that are out there and how to avoid them. "These traps exist not only with ticket sales, but also for those booking last-minute travel and accommodation to attend festivals. It's vital to think through any big-ticket purchases by firstly validating the credibility of the seller, then being careful in how you complete the payment transaction." Recent analysis by Lloyds indicated that Oasis fans have collectively lost more than £2 million to scams since tickets for the band's long-awaited reunion tour went on sale last year, with an average loss of £436. In a warning about where many scams are originating, Lloyds highlighted unofficial groups set up on social media, dedicated to buying and selling tickets for the Oasis tour. Article continues below Here are some tips from Experian for people looking to buy tickets to gigs and festivals or book travel: 1. Know how to spot fake websites. When buying tickets, make sure you are using verified websites, which could include the festival's official site, the promoter, or a verified ticket exchange. Always double-check the website address. 2. Do background checks. Check sellers' reviews and verify if they have a reachable email or phone number. If you are buying from an independent seller, make sure you ask as many questions as possible (such as when the ticket would arrive and the type of ticket they are selling) and then confirm these details with a verified source such as the promoter's website. 3. Be mindful of how you pay. If you are paying by credit card, you may be able to make a Section 75 claim if something goes wrong. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act means the card issuer can be held jointly liable for the failure of the goods and services being provided, subject to terms and conditions. 4. Ask yourself if it is too good to be true. Article continues below If a seller is offering you a bargain price for a ticket to a popular event, this could be a red flag. Verify the seller's details and the average price of tickets from credible sources. Thinking you have found an affordable ticket may be a very exciting moment but try to keep your calm and approach opportunities with caution. 5. Report fraud. As well as reporting it to your financial firm, crimes should be reported to the police. It may also be worth checking your credit reports for signs of any fraudulent activity. Credit reference agencies can help to put right any damage done to reports.
Wales Online
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Urgent 'pink eye' alert issued ahead of Glastonbury festival
Urgent 'pink eye' alert issued ahead of Glastonbury festival Crowded festivals such as Glastonbury serve as hotspots for bacteria Regular handwashing with soap and water is key to preventing the spread of bacteria (Image: Matt Cardy/Getty ) The countdown to the Glastonbury Festival has started, with over 200,000 ticket holders excitedly anticipating the opening of the gates later this month. From Wednesday, June 25, to Sunday, June 29, the fields of Worthy Farm in Somerset will welcome one of the largest outdoor music festivals in the world. As the UK gears up for festival season - from Glastonbury to Wireless and Latitude - hundreds of thousands will be packing tents, glitter, and sunnies. But there's one thing many won't see coming: conjunctivitis. GP Nisa Aslam of Goldeneyecare - a range of pharmacy drops and ointments to treat conjunctivitis, styes and blepharitis - is warning festival-goers to keep eye health on their radar. "Festivals can be a breeding ground for eye infections like conjunctivitis (pink eye)," she said. "Late nights, shared sleeping arrangements, poor hygiene, dehydration, and all that glittery eye makeup and false lashes create the perfect storm for eye irritation and infection." It's not just bacteria to watch out for - allergy sufferers are also at risk. "Around half the UK population gets hay fever symptoms. When they affect the eyes, it's known as Seasonal Allergic Conjunctivitis," the health expert said. "Grass pollen is the most common cause, and peaks in summer, right when festivals are in full swing," she added. "Itchy, watery eyes are more likely to be rubbed - which increases the chance of introducing harmful bacteria. Dehydration is also common at festivals and that can create dry eyes that make them more susceptible to incoming bacteria and pathogens." Glastonbury Festival works hard when the event is on to maintain cleanliness in all public facilities Article continues below Contact lens wearers face additional risks. With four million people in the UK using lenses, the lack of proper sanitation, like clean showers and toilets, can be a serious issue. "Contact lenses are magnets for dust and grime," says Dr Aslam. "Wearing them in dirty environments, or sleeping in them after a long night, significantly raises the risk of infection." Glastonbury Festival can pose hygiene difficulties because of the massive crowds and the outdoor setting. Although there are initiatives to uphold cleanliness, the circumstances may not always be perfect, particularly in places such as restrooms and showers. People often express concerns about long wait times, insufficient facilities, and the possibility of inadequate cleanliness in toilets. Shower access can be restricted, and lines may be lengthy. Muddy areas, dust, and close contact with others can complicate efforts to maintain cleanliness. Bacteria spreads more easily in busy and crowded areas According to Glastonbury Festival's website, the event strives to offer toilets, showers, and hand sanitisers. Although the festival provides numerous resources for keeping things clean, such as 850 wash basins, standpipes with drinkable water that is regularly checked for quality and hand sanitisers, the vast size of the event and the large number of attendees can pose a challenge to maintaining hygiene. Attendees can maintain cleanliness by packing wet wipes, hand sanitiser, and a compact collapsible bucket for washing. Food vendors at the festival must adhere to rigorous hygiene regulations. Somerset Council has also shared information on how to prevent the spread of diseases, such as measles, and provides guidance on STD testing. How can you avoid conjunctivitis? The NHS says: "Conjunctivitis is an eye condition caused by infection or allergies. It usually gets better in a couple of weeks without treatment. Conjunctivitis is also known as red or pink eye. It usually affects both eyes and makes them: red, burn or feel gritty, produce pus that sticks to lashes, itch and water." There are several steps you can take to alleviate the symptoms of conjunctivitis. Start by washing your eyelids with clean water. Boil some water, allow it to cool, and then gently wipe your eyelashes with a clean cotton wool pad to remove any crusts (use one pad for each eye). Apply a cold flannel to your eyes for a few minutes to help soothe them. Some sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can cause conjunctivitis. This type takes longer to get better. Avoid wearing contact lenses until your eyes have healed. A pharmacist can assist with conjunctivitis. Consult a pharmacist regarding conjunctivitis. They can provide guidance and recommend eyedrops or antihistamines to relieve your symptoms. It's crucial for festival-goers to recognise possible hygiene concerns and take measures to remain as clean and healthy as they can. GP Nisa Aslam offers her top five tips to help revellers protect their eyes from potentially painful eye infections without killing the vibe. GP Nisa Aslam's top five tips 1. Don't share makeup The GP says: "Share the music, not your mascara. Swapping eyeliner or false lashes is a fast track to eye infections like pink eye." 2. Rethink your lenses 'Consider rocking some funky glasses for the weekend instead. If you must wear lenses, opt for daily disposables - and always wash your hands before putting them in," she added. 3. Pack a first-aid kit 'If you do get an eye infection, treat it immediately." The GP recommends eye drops or ointment that contains propamidine isethionate and dibrompropamidine isethionate - antiseptics (not antibiotics). These help to stop bacteria from growing and multiplying, and as a result, control the number of bacteria causing an infection. 4. Use glitter wisely The GP explained: "Stick to body glitter. Even sparkly or metallic eye makeup should be used with caution, as they contain tiny specks of glitter that can cause irritation that could lead to infection if they fall into the eye. If you wear contact lenses, this could be even worse." 5. Hands off "Festivals aren't the cleanest places," Dr Aslam said. "Avoid touching your eyes, and if you must wipe them, use a clean tissue and bin it straight after." Article continues below
Scotsman
29-05-2025
- Health
- Scotsman
Why the food we eat will determine the future of life on Earth
Modern humans' diets are pushing the natural world towards a dangerous breaking point Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Sometimes, it hits you in the quiet moments – a walk through a once-bustling woodland now eerily still, the Buddleja 'butterfly' bush with no butterflies, or the absence of bees in a summer garden. The signs are all around us: nature is in trouble. As World Environment Day approaches, I find myself thinking not just about the planet, but about the choices we make every day, especially what we eat. Because behind every meal lies a story, and right now, too many of those stories are ones of loss. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad From the depths of the oceans to the peaks of the highest mountains, life on Earth has flourished for billions of years in breathtaking diversity. Wonderfully diverse civilisations have evolved, powered by an abundance of natural riches. The world is now home to more than eight billion people and a multitude of different plants and animals, all with their part to play in the complex web of life. Buying free-range food is one way that we, as consumers, can make a real difference (Picture: Matt Cardy) | Getty Images Huge declines in mammals, birds and fish Yet nature is now in emergency mode and time is running out. To keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius this century, we must halve annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Without action, exposure to air pollution beyond safe guidelines is expected to increase by 50 per cent within the decade and plastic waste flowing into aquatic ecosystems is set to nearly triple by 2040. In the last 50 years, according to WWF's Living Planet report , the total number of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish has declined by 73 per cent. It's no exaggeration to say that what happens over the next five years will determine the future for life on Earth. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad And the primary reason for all this destruction? Our food. Planet-wide, the way we feed ourselves has become a dominant activity, affecting wildlife and the natural ecosystems on which our existence depends. Nearly half the world's habitable land surface and most human water use is devoted to agriculture. Ghost food waste Industrial agriculture – factory farming – is the most damaging. More than 80 billion farmed animals are produced for food every year, two-thirds of them on factory farms. Before factory farming, animals were out on pasture, turning things we can't eat, like grass, into things we can eat in the form of meat, milk and eggs. Now confined to cages, barren warehouses, or feedlots, they are fed on food crops like corn, wheat, and soya which could otherwise have fed billions of hungry people. This creates ' ghost food waste ', where crops that could alleviate hunger are squandered. The fact is that factory farmed animals are hugely inefficient at converting grain into meat or milk. Much of the food value is lost, making it the biggest single area of food waste on the planet. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But the harm doesn't end there: animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gases than all of the world's planes, trains and cars combined. Yet the global farmed animal population is expected to continue to grow, further stepping up the pressure on a natural world in steep decline. Chemical-doused monocultures As agriculture expands at the expense of dwindling forests, wildlife disappears. This happens even more so when farming and nature part company as with industrial animal agriculture. In this way, meat production has become just another industry, churning out raw materials in a way that is commonly presented as efficient but which, in fact, is grossly wasteful. We seemed to have switched our focus from feeding people to the pursuit of commodity production at any cost. More than half of all the world's food now either rots, is dumped in landfill, or feeds those long-suffering, imprisoned animals. Whole landscapes have been swept away by monocultures – vast, prairie-like carpets of uniform crops. Birds, bees and butterflies, along with the insects and plants they feed on, are in decline. Chemical fertilisers and pesticide sprays have replaced time-honoured natural ways of keeping soil fertile and problem bugs at bay. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Farmed animals have been disappearing from fields and into confinement. Egg-laying hens in battery cages, pigs in narrow crates or barren pens, chickens for meat growing so fast that their legs can barely support their outsized bodies. Nature has been replaced by a horror show. More than enough food for all So, how did this happen? Well, part of the answer is that the food system has become hijacked by the animal-feed industry. Today, more than one-third of the entire global cereal harvest and nearly all of the world's soya is devoted to feeding industrially reared animals – food enough for more than four billion extra people. Paradoxically, we still hear talk of looming global food crises. Yet, the fact that there's already more than enough food for everybody is routinely ignored. The planet is now at a dangerous tipping point but it is not too late to prevent more destruction. What we put on our plate has never mattered more. Eating more plants and choosing organic, pasture-fed or free-range meat, milk, and eggs really can make a big difference for the future of animals, people, and the countryside. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This World Environment Day, let's recognise that the power to change course lies in our hands. By rethinking what we eat and how it's produced, we can help restore balance to our planet.
