Blindfish RSE

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Thoughts on how SRE workers may have to respond to it with young people.  I have just finished reading 50 shades of grey. As a youth worker and sex and relationship educator I felt it was important to have an informed opinion before September when teenagers/young people might ask me questions in lessons and youth clubs. I'm a little behind the trend but spending 12 weeks travelling did take me out of touch. I have always thought it is crucial to read a book itself before commenting on it. So even though it is not my typical book I thought it was important to read it.  To be clear this book was not written for young people, it is not meant to be read by young people and I don't believe E. L. James would be happy for young people to read it. But in my experience young people love to consume (watch, read, listen) media that adults do not want them to read. Either as a form of sexual exploration or out of rebellion or for many other reasons young people have a...

Fighting for love? I love dystopian future stories. I don't know maybe there it is the part of me that loves to watch how things might fall apart. From the bleak Joss Whedon Firefly and Dollhouse  TV shows or the amazing Metatropolis  anthology to this new trilogy of books and 1st film the Hunger Games. By Suzanne Collins this triology explores a bleak near future where America has collapsed and ruled with an Iron Fist the capital city holds 12 districts under its thumb treating them as slave labour. Barely able to survive, working back breaking jobs the vast majority of the population serve the few rich capital city dwellers. As part of the capitals drive to keep the districts under heal and broken they city forces each district to select 2 young people to fight to the death in a televised event called the Hunger Games. The games themselves unfold in a very similar way to the 2000 Japanese film Battle Royale  but the world they are set in is ...

Relationships are kind of like trees I just got back from doing a school assembly talking about relationships. In the short time I had we covered the basic idea that the relationships we have are first rooted in us. Therefore how we think and feel about ourselves impacts what kind of relationships we have (and even who we have relationships with). We looked at how body confidence, self esteem and emotions all impact our choices in a relationship. Plus we talked about how examples from our lives and in the Media shape what our expectations are in relationships.  We then went on to think about how some attitudes act as the trunk supporting everything else in the relationship. I got the young people to suggest some attitudes that would be helpful in supporting a positive relationships. Then I revealed that trust and respect are the two attitudes I personally think are the most supportive in a relationship.  Finally we talked about what I called the f...

One of the most confounding challenges of coordinating a Sex and Relationship Education project across a city is how to assess the impact of such a project. Working in a limited number of schools for a relatively short period of time(a couple of years) excludes any regional statistics from being directly related or representative. Also regional statistics focus on two things conception rates and STI infection rates. However, our Sex and Relationship project focus on attitudes and behaviours as much as biological consequences. It is difficult to assess the attitudes of a group. Interviews individually or in groups may work but it is very personal and questions could possibly be inappropriate. Instead of interviews we have written an anonymous quiz that attempts to evaluate both attitudes and looks at knowledge. We have used this in one school already I hope to post some of the statistical results in the near future. Below is a small 2 page quiz is all about trying to evaluate what is th...

Just wanted to post a quick link to a fun little flash game I found today. It's from Canada on a interesting   website (sexualityandu) made by the SOCIETY OF OBSTETRICIANS AND GYNAECOLOGISTS OF CANADA (SOGC). I like this game because it covers sex attitudes and sexual health questions. Sex Education game http://www.sexualityandu.ca/multimedia/games/sexfu/index_e.asp

I have based this exercise on the Intimacy Pyramid from the Oasis Esteem Programme. I have used lots of the same words but have added some extra words and changed some wording. Simply the exercise works by getting the class into groups of around 3 or 4 and giving out the cards (holding back the cards that say sex). - Ask the groups to pick the top 10 cards that they would want in a good friendship. - Ask them to put the card into a pyramid with the most important card at the top. - Go around the group and ask them to feedback the top 3 cards in the pyramid. - After everyone has feedback, point out how similar people's top 3 cards are. Encourage the group that although we are all different we are all looking for similar things in friendships. - Now get tell the group to make the pyramid into a romantic relationship by adding 3 cards and remove any cards they think should not be in a relationship pyramid. - Ask groups to feedback the 3 cards they have added and explain the positioing...