The Naked Truth About Sex Education  

On 4 April, Channel 4 released host of Naked Attraction, Anna Richardson’s, questionable new show, Naked Education. The program aims to to celebrate diversity, body positivity, and encourage young people to discuss their feelings rather than feel ashamed about their bodies. She stated, “Naked Education is sort of one step further than Naked Attraction, as it says: ‘Let’s normalise bodies, let’s have the conversation about what we go through and let’s actually educate the nation.”

It seems a questionable decision to allow children under the age of sixteen to watch full-grown adults strip in front of them. This would not be allowed in any other circumstance. If a child under the age of 18 turned up to a nude life drawing art class, they would not be allowed in because of their age. Moreover, it is hard to see precisely what this has to do with education. While I perfectly understand concerns that social media enhances children’s feelings of self-consciousness, this is unlikely to be rectified by celebrities and tv cameras. Parents, teachers, and society more broadly are possibly best placed to tackle this problem. 

This is the wrong way to go about teaching children, and it shows that sex education is going a step too far. The way it is taught now is perfectly fine, and it is normal for teenagers to lack confidence in their appearance – I do myself. Beyond viewing figures, I do not understand why Channel 4 would choose to promote this. If it becomes a popular way to teach, I will refuse to turn up to class. Instead of reinventing the wheel, schools should stick to sensible procedures – assemblies and lesson plans on the topic, to reassure students. 

My concern is that programs such as Naked Education may be a perfect way to normalise paedophilia. We used to have public information films warning us about flashers and paedophiles, now we have television shows that appear to provide them a legal platform from which to operate. This is regression, not progression. I wonder how many with questionable motives applied to go on this show, and how many will make it on before the show is cancelled? It doesn’t bear thinking about. 

What were Channel 4 thinking when they commissioned this program? The premise of adults displaying their genitalia to young children would be illegal in most contexts. As the Sexual Offences Act states with regard to ‘exposure’:

Section 66 makes it an offence for a person intentionally to expose his genitals where he intends that someone will see them and be caused alarm or distress. It is not necessary for A’s genitals to have been seen by anyone or for anyone to have been alarmed or distressed. For example, if a person exposes his genitals to some passers-by, he may (depending on his state of mind) commit the offence regardless of whether they actually see his genitals or whether they have been alarmed or distressed by seeing them.

Granted, the expressed aim of the program is not to cause alarm, and yet how qualified are the program makers to guarantee this? If anything inappropriate happens to these children as they mature, what effect (if any) will this experience have had on them? And why, furthermore, would the adults wish to engage in the spectacle? And perhaps most of all, where are the parents in all of this? I consider this program to be an offence in itself, and believe it should be taken off the air immediately. In fact, I guarantee it will not make it past the second episode.

Jack Watson is a 14-year-old schoolboy, who has a Substack about being a Hull City fan. You can subscribe to it here.

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