To think that GCSE drama productions should not involve sexual content?

[legalalien]

Or am I an old prude? I'm all for sex education and stuff, but not sure about classes of teenagers making up and acting out plays with sexual content.

Background, have just been reading this employment appeals tribunal decision concerning the dismissal of drama teachers who allowed their class to put on a production depicting sexual abuse, incest and masturbation and my initial reaction was wtf were they thinking; but presumably they must have had some reason to think it was ok?

www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKEAT/2012/0155_12_2310.html

Note, lots of the decision is about whether the right process was followed rather than the acceptability of the production per se.

themumsnot have you actually read the link? The content was not what I would think of as appropriate for a school play.

Yes, I have read the link.

That's the problem - oversexualising children (because that's what teenagers are) is seen as creepy when a bloke in a gold lame jacket is doing it but acceptable when a bunch of liberal and in high likelihood left-leaning drama teachers do it. Whereas actually - it's creepy either way - all part of the same problem.

themumsnot and do you honestly think that any play needs to have that level of sexual content? Especially when performed by teenagers?

I would want to know a lot more about the play in question before i would say if it was reasonable or not. Just because it is a gcse drama play doesn't mean they shouldn't cover issues like child abuse or rape.

What would matter more to be is the full content of the play. Did it deal with the emotions or just the actions? Did it address the serious issues involved or was it just sensationalism?

Aldiwhore - agree re the quality of the film but I wouldn't have liked to watch it at 14 - too close to reality. One of my classmates died following a gang rape and assault in that kind of environment aged 13. Sorry if tmi. But it does affect my view of what it's ok to "explore" in a classroom environment.

One night out stealing, also by Alan Duff, is a brilliant but equally harrowing and thought provoking book.

FromEsme - I don't think you are quite understanding the point at issue here. This wasn't as far as I understand it, a play that the teenagers were given to perform. It was a piece of improvised drama that they originated themselves as part of their GCSE Drama coursework. They would have been fully responsible for all aspects of it. They would have had to create it and stage it without teacher input. Nobody told them to do it. Nobody was sexualising them. I definitely think that the teacher should have thought more about the impact on the audience and warned them about the content, but I don't agree that the pupils were not entitled to devise a play about a serious issue and try to make it as dramatic as possible. That is the function of drama after all.

I think I fully understand themumsnot . Whether or not the teenagers wrote it themselves is beyond the point really. If we are just going to let children do whatever they want, why bother having schools?

If we had come up with that as a play when I was 15 we would have been sent off to counselling. I say that without expressing a good thing or bad thing view as I clearly need to do so more thinking. In honesty I was expecting outrage at the content of this particular play, in the context of 15 year olds, but views seem fairly mixed.

And fromesme, I agree.

So why do we have schools FromEsme? To teach them what to think? That's not why I chose to become a teacher. My primary aim is that my pupils learn to think for themselves.

I was raped at 14 legalalien if we're going to compete. It was a hard watch. It wasn't about gang rape, but the consequences, how much it can fuck up a person, how little is done about it. (among other things)

To liken a drama group exploring sexual issues to being fiddled with by Jimmy Saville is offensive in the extreme brycie.

We sat, at 15 in a group of 5 teenagers, all of us at different stages in our sexual experience and understanding. We improvised a 20 minute long production (over a term) based on abuse, and what started this process was a discussion, where one of my classmates recounted HER experience of abuse. We were NOT ADULTS, but we were no longer children, we wanted to understand, we wanted to know, we wanted to show our disgust at the world of the adult. It was hard. Emotionally draining. It touched nerves we never knew we had. It saved a few of us I should think, and we were able to discuss the things we wanted to.

15 year olds are NOT children. They are teenagers, they are not adults either. They are at the cusp of needing protection respect and empathy and wanting to explore. To treat them as adults is wrong, to treat them as children is disrespectful.

Brilliant post, Aldiwhore.

Ali, sorry if I made it sound like a competition and I do think you hit it on the head, sensitive stuff like this needs appropriate supervision, and is not something that I think 15 year olds should be left to be responsible for "all aspects of". Some group members will be more assertive than others and some may be more affected than others and there needs to be some thoughtful supervision. And I'm not personally convinced that the right level of counselling and supervision can necessarily be given by teachers who I guess are stretched in terms of resources. But on that front I accept that I am talking through a hole in my head and stand to be corrected.

themumsnot yes, likewise. I want them to learn to think for themselves. I also want them to learn to take responsibility for their actions and to realise what is appropriate and what isn't.

There are few plays that could sustain that level of sexual content and not come across as gratuitous and sleazy.

Perhaps there should have been guidance on what should actually be seen in the play & what alluded to?

It does sound very misguided-but a sackable offence?

Sorry, that should have been aldi not Ali - typo

That's your opinion FromEsme. I don't agree.

Of course it's my opinion. What else would it be?

No offence meant or taken legalalien.

Fromesme sexual abuse IS sleazy. Masturbation happens. I doubt they were glorifying it.

The guy who played the 'rapist' and the girl who played the 'victim' found it very difficult, there's no doubt about that. The group weren't a bunch of kids who wished to 'get it on' on stage, we wanted to RAGE publically. We wanted to show we had a voice, and an opinion.

If it were to happen NOW, I'd like to think it would be allowed. I also do accept that there is a need when tackling these issues, to offer support, to give no pressure, and to make sure anyone who finds it too uncomfortable has the option to move groups or seek counselling if they need it.

legalalien a lot of therapy involves drama, most specifically role play. I know for a fact that the girl in our group didn't feel that our exloration of her experience damaged her, rather it profoundly helped her find her rage, and eventually, her peace of sorts.

It is not 'entertaining' always, the world of drama. Most of the time it's dark, deep and scary, and at 15, the world becomes a much more scary place. I think it can be empowering. I didn't divulge my experiences to my group, I wasn't ready, but I found my rage.

I think most 15 and 16 year olds are far more thoughtful and responsible than you are giving them credit for FromEsme. I also find that you get far more from teenagers when you give them responsiblity and trust them. You seem to think they are children to be directed and controlled, whereas I would say that in Y11 they are mature and capable of exploring even very sensitive issues with a great deal of understanding.

aldiwhore you DOUBT they were glorifying it, but you don't know. None of us know, and I suppose that that is why it's a difficult one to argue.

All I can draw on is my own experience and I know that at that age I'd have been very uncomfortable but if everyone else was going along with it, so would I.

themumsnot well maybe that's the problem. Children are frequently not given enough responsibility and not allowed to be mature. They don't have the confidence to voice their opinion. And in those circumstances a play like this would be a disaster.

I really do wish that you would stop making personal comments about what you think that I believe or feel. It is really nothing to do with the conversation.

Then drama may have helped you find your rage Fromesme and the courage to say "I'm not comfortable with this". Tis confidence building is drama.

We also did a great play about the holocaust with my theatre club. When I say 'great' I really REALLY don't mean 'nice'.

It may have, but I really doubt it. I had quite bad mental health problems, no support and home and a shit school. And was pushed into a lot of things by adults who thought that such things were "cool".