UK teachers and parents urged to talk to children about Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes
By Richard Adams2 min read
Teachers and parents in the UK need to be brave and discuss Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes with children and young people or risk them looking for answers from dubious or dangerous sources, according to experts who will host the first public seminar for schools on the issue.
Thrive, the education consultancy hosting the online seminar on the convicted child sex offender, said: “Many children and young people are encountering this material often without context, warnings or adult support, leaving educators to manage the emotional and safeguarding impact in real time.”
Adele Gladman, a specialist in child sexual exploitation who will take part in the event, said she was not surprised that children as young as six had been asking about Epstein, given the sustained media coverage and huge public interest.
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Gladman said schools and parents needed to get ahead of the curve and prepare to answer questions about Epstein and his involvement with figures such as Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor that would inevitably come from young people.
“The first thing is to be brave, because these are difficult conversations to have but they are also important conversations to have. And make no mistake about it, if you don’t have the conversation, those children will seek information elsewhere, and it’s the elsewhere that isn’t healthy and presents a risk,” Gladman said.
“If children aren’t given the opportunity to talk to trusted adults about it then they are going to go online, they are going to go into forums, they are going to talk to chatbots, and that’s where the risk lies because that’s where the misinformation and disinformation is.”
Viv Trask-Hall, Thrive’s head of theory and practice and one of the speakers, said more than 2,000 educators had already signed up to the webinar on Wednesday, an indication of strong interest from professionals in the sector.
Trask-Hall said the decision to hold the webinar came after hearing about questions and comments coming from pupils, and the difficulties of responding given Epstein’s horrific crimes as a sex offender and exploiter.
“If they are reaching out to an adult or a professional, they obviously trust the adult, so we need to give them a suitable answer,” Trask-Hall said. “You might think that young people will only hear about Epstein if they go out and look for it, but sometimes it is being served up by the algorithm connected to whichever social media they are using.
Thrive, the education consultancy hosting the online seminar on the convicted child sex offender, said: “Many children and young people are encountering this material often without context, warnings or adult support, leaving educators to manage the emotional and safeguarding impact in real time.”
Adele Gladman, a specialist in child sexual exploitation who will take part in the event, said she was not surprised that children as young as six had been asking about Epstein, given the sustained media coverage and huge public interest.
a man and a woman smile while embracing each other
Epstein survivors say financier lured them with promise of college education
Read more
Gladman said schools and parents needed to get ahead of the curve and prepare to answer questions about Epstein and his involvement with figures such as Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor that would inevitably come from young people.
“The first thing is to be brave, because these are difficult conversations to have but they are also important conversations to have. And make no mistake about it, if you don’t have the conversation, those children will seek information elsewhere, and it’s the elsewhere that isn’t healthy and presents a risk,” Gladman said.
“If children aren’t given the opportunity to talk to trusted adults about it then they are going to go online, they are going to go into forums, they are going to talk to chatbots, and that’s where the risk lies because that’s where the misinformation and disinformation is.”
Viv Trask-Hall, Thrive’s head of theory and practice and one of the speakers, said more than 2,000 educators had already signed up to the webinar on Wednesday, an indication of strong interest from professionals in the sector.
Trask-Hall said the decision to hold the webinar came after hearing about questions and comments coming from pupils, and the difficulties of responding given Epstein’s horrific crimes as a sex offender and exploiter.
“If they are reaching out to an adult or a professional, they obviously trust the adult, so we need to give them a suitable answer,” Trask-Hall said. “You might think that young people will only hear about Epstein if they go out and look for it, but sometimes it is being served up by the algorithm connected to whichever social media they are using.
