The Vital Conversations Every Parent Should Have With Their Primary School-Age Child |
The Vital Conversations Every Parent Should Have With Their Primary School-Age Child
With peer-on-peer abuse considered “widespread”, this is what parents can do to help kids recognise what’s OK behaviour, and what’s not.
Parents editor at HuffPost UK
No parent wants to entertain the thought that another young person could abuse their own child – yet sadly, peer-on-peer abuse “persists unabated at schools in England and Wales”.
That’s according to a Guardian investigation, which suggested the issue may well be more worse now than a decade ago, as a result of social media, rising misogyny and extreme online porn.
The newspaper’s analysis of police data from between 2021 and 2025 found there were almost five sexual crimes a day, on average, involving children under the age of 12 in schools in England and Wales.
While schools obviously have a part to play in recognising and responding to peer-on-peer abuse, experts say “safeguarding cannot sit solely with schools”.
Safeguarding consultant Dr Karen Miller told HuffPost UK: “As parents, we have a duty to provide children with consistent messages about respect, consent, healthy relationships and personal boundaries both at school and at home.
“Most importantly, we must continue to challenge the idea that abuse is simply part of growing up. Harmful behaviours should never be normalised, minimised or excused.”
It’s horrifying to even think about – yet with experts like Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, describing peer-to-peer abuse as “widespread” and “normalised” – parents might be wondering how they can help their children build understanding and confidence to recognise what’s OK behaviour, and what’s not.
Julia Cornford-Hooke, project development manager at the NSPCC, said: “We know for parents and carers, it can feel hard to know where to start when talking to your children about peer-on-peer harm and abuse.
“It’s completely normal to feel anxious or uneasy, but there are things parents and carers can do so it feels simpler and........