Good thread.
The recommendations, relating to education, from the <a class="break-all" href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100418065544/www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/Sexualisation-of-young-people.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sexualisation of Young People review were that:
? All school staff should have training
on gender equality.
? Staff who teach Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education and/or citizenship should be given specialist training and ongoing support to address these
issues through the curriculum.
? The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) issues statutory guidance for schools on gender equality, in order to raise the profile of the issue. The new guidance should be comprehensive, including:
how to address gender equality and violence against women and girls in the school Gender Equality Scheme; the school ethos; in anti-bullying policies; safeguarding strategies; the wider curriculum; staff training; and
the services and information that
schools provide.
? Schools should ensure that all incidents on sexual bullying are recorded and reported separately to other forms of bullying.
? Clear reference is made to sexualisation, gender stereotypes and pornography within the Department for Children, School and Families? revised Sex and Relationships
Education (SRE) guidance which is currently out for public consultation.
? Practical ?How To? guidance on tackling sexualisation is disseminated widely to schools through Teachernet, the PSHE Association,the Sex Education Forum and other
agencies. This would pull together illustrative material of good practice;
demonstrate how sexualisation can fit within the existing curriculum including SRE, PSHE education, Citizenship and Media Studies; and
detail what resources are available and links to relevant organisations.
? New SRE resource materials are made available for teachers who work with children with special education needs and learning difficulties.
? Primary schools should make specific reference to the influence of the media on body image and personal identity. This could form part of a planned new area of learning, ?Understanding Physical Development, Health and Wellbeing?,
and would help equip primary school children with tools to understand and interpret the images and messages they see in the media.
? A module on gender equality,sexualisation and sexist/sexual bullying be developed as part of the SEAL programme. This should
include discussion of body image and
objectification.
? Media literacy should not only be taught through PSHE education but also through English and drama,the arts, history and citizenship.A ?whole school? approach to media literacy would reduce the burden
on PSHE education, ensure that relevant links are made in other subjects and effectively mainstream gender stereotyping throughout the curriculum.
? Increased funding should be made available for staffing, provision and training of existing youth workers so that they feel confident and sufficiently skilled to have discussions with young people around sexuality,sexist and sexual bullying and gender inequality. More materials are also
needed to support youth workers to develop such work.
? The UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) should be supported to further develop its current online resource centre where parents can access internet safety
advice. Strategies should be simple and practical, and link to parents? existing life and parenting skills.
? Digital literacy is made a compulsory
part of the national curriculum for children from the age of five onwards, and that age-appropriate materials are made available to pupils at every stage of their education.
? The government should work with internet service providers to block access to pro-ana and pro-mia websites.
? A schools campaign is developed which promotes positive role models for young men and young women and challenges gender
stereotypes. The campaign should build on the positive work already being undertaken in schools by organisations such as the White
Ribbon Campaign and Womankind.
? Schools encourage girls to value their bodies in terms of their physical ability by encouraging them to engage in athletic and other extracurricular activities. Schools should promote this work by linking it
to the 2012 Get Set education programme (run by the London Organising Committee for the
Olympic Games).
? Local Authorities must be held accountable for treating victims of child sexual abuse and ensure that specialist services receive adequate funding for the treatment of children who have suffered abuse.
? One-to-one confidential help in school/college from a trained professional such as a psychologist should be made available to every child and young person.
I think that these are good recommendations and I am looking forward to the Government's response to these. Regardless of the response they may be useful to pass on to DC's schools?
I am a school governor and I'm going to be looking at the implementation of the new equality act and reviewing the current discrimination policies (I haven't seen the existing policies yet). I will have a look at the info on my LA's governor services and ssee what they say about sex equality etc.
ISNT - what are the sexist messages from the other mothers at nursery?