Experts say trusted adults must be brave and discuss issue or risk children looking for answers from unsafe sources
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.
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.
