Have had v.good idea on how to educate young women on ff/bf

[sabire]

...... which is to put together a study pack for English and Media Studies teachers which gets GCSE students to analyse formula advertising and writing about breastfeeding, and produce promotional material for breastfeeding.

It'd be a whole unit of work including lots of different stimulus material on the subject. You could have a section of a chapter on the feeding stats, and risks of ff/benefits of bf from a midwifery textbook and from the Department of Health Infant Feeding Survey (information texts), something from BabyMilkAction (polemic), the Diane Weissem(something) essay on guilt (argument), some posts from mumsnet in which women talk about their personal experiences and feeling about feeding (personal writing and anecdote), an range of formula adverts - including both print and other media (would include the new SMA advert aimed at dads), and one of those horribly discriminatory anti-breastfeeding articles from the Times AlphaMummy section that gets invariably appears during national Breastfeeding Awareness week (invective and propaganda).

Students could do a range of reading and writing tasks, including analysing the sort of language and imagery used in formula advertising, they could be asked to create a leaflet about breastfeeding specifically aimed at young mums, a speech to parliament arguing for the banning of formula advertising, they could create their own formula advert,

I bet you could get one of the bf charities to sponsor this!

What do you think - do I get a slap on the back for having thought of something so clever before lunch.

Or is someone going to piss on my barbecue by telling me this has already been done by someone else.

It's very clever, but you can't aim it just at girls and would you want a class of 15 year old boys looking at various pairs of tits? Cos they won't see the function, they won't see the baby, they'll only see the tits.

I think it's a very good idea. And I don't think you need to show pictures of tits do you? Although obviously you do have to talk about them which will mean sniggering but I'd imagine that wouldn't last long.

I think you're allowed a glass of wine with lunch for being so clever sabire

Oh in an ideal world........

In reality the chances of it being taken seriously by the students even if it were done is pretty slim. A while ago everyone in my Spanish class had to do a short presentation on something that had been in the news recently and that interested them. I did it on bf and everyone in the class was just sniggering at me and these are over 21s!

Sabire I think that's a fab idea, although I do think you'd get some sniggering from some quarters of the classroom.

Huge slap on the back though!!

I spent the worst 3 months of my life as a supply teacher in a duff boys school, teaching bottom sets in year 9 and 10.

Oh yes - I know all about 14 and 15 year old boys.

The horror!
The horror!

Not a bad idea, but not new

Baby Milk Action have long had a schools pack - www.babymilkaction.org/spin/index.html

NCT also has education packs and I would imagine the other vol orgs have them.

Around here, MWs take in breastfeeding motyhers to meet 11 year old and do presentations.

I was one of the mothers once and found the children all v sensible and interested, even the wildest lads.