Lecturer in Applied Social Sciences: Childhood & Youth

I have recently joined the University in September 2021 as a new academic. However, I have spent my professional career working face-to-face with children and young people of various ages, and training the professionals who work with them.

I have a particularly unique set of skills, from working as an Independent Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) Consultant. I established my own consultancy business ten years ago. I have vast experience of working with children and young people (from 4yrs+), including those of multi-faiths and cultures; from various social-economic backgrounds; and those who identify as LGBTQA+; often around the most sensitive of topics.

In my previous role I supported professionals including: teachers, social workers, youth offending practitioners, police officers, foster carers, school nurses and youth workers; this includes specialist training packages, advising on policy and guidance, health promotion, and safeguarding. As a result, I have up to date practice knowledge of relevant policies, guidelines and legislation regarding young people, RSE, Online harms, risk taking behaviours, emotional wellbeing and Safeguarding.

I am currently working on my PhD part time at Bournemouth University. My research is an ethnographic study, exploring how schools, parents and policy makers approach the issue of pornography with young people. Prior to my PhD I completed a Masters in Children’s Literature and Culture here at the University of Bedfordshire. This was a mixed discipline course, incorporating sociological perspectives, the history of childhood, research methods and literature. I used this as an opportunity to bring together my academic knowledge around children's literature from my BA and my professional experience as a sexual health worker - my dissertation explored messages around sex and sexuality in young adult fiction and how this reflected current policy around RSE.

I have worked with young people for all of my adult life. Indeed, young people have always been at the heart of what I do. I have always taken I child centred approach, often working specifically to help give young people a voice in the work that affects them.

Qualifications

• PhD (in progress) Relationship & Sex Education – Bournemouth University
• MA Children’s Literature & Culture – University of Bedfordshire
• BA Hons English Literature & Philosophy – University of Sheffield

Research Interests

• Comprehensive Relationships & Sex Education – attitudes and values
• Online harms, mobile phones, sexting (nudes), pornography & Sex media & digital citizenship
• Gender Identity, Sexuality & Heterosexualism.
• Harmful Sexualised Behaviours
• Youth engagement & participation. Advocacy & the voice of young people.

Publications

• Hunt, J (2021). Sex Ed for Grown-ups: How to Talk to Children and Young People about Sex And Relationships. Speechmark, Routledge.
• Newby, Katie & Crutzen, Rik & Brown, Katherine & Bailey, Julia & Saunders, John & Szczepura, Ala & Hunt, Jonny & Alston, Tim & Sadiq, Tariq & Das, Satyajit. (2018). Wrapped: Development of an intervention to increase condom use amongst users of chlamydia self-sampling websites (Preprint). 10.2196/preprints.11242.
• Newby, Katie & Brown, Katherine & Bayley, Julie & Kehal, Isher & Caley, Mike & Danahay, Amy & Hunt, Jonny & Critchley, George. (2017). Development of an Intervention to Increase Sexual Health Service Uptake by Young People. Health promotion practice. 18. 1524839916688645. 10.1177/1524839916688645.

Contact Details

T: +44 (0)1582 743960 (ext 3960)
E: jonny.hunt@beds.ac.uk