Recently grabbing headlines, the role of sex education in an increasingly digital age has come under scrutiny. The recent decision taken by the AQA exam board to stop linking Zoella content as part of a GSCE media studies course, has got a lot of people asking: when is the right time to have open and honest conversations about sex?
Further to this, Zara McDermott’s powerful new Revenge Porn documentary on BBC has brought the important topic into the spotlight, with the team behind it calling on all schools to show it.
The discussions are timely, as schools are currently transitioning to a new Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum, which is compulsory to have in place by the start of the summer term 2021.
As schools navigate and plan for the RSE changes, ClickView has worked in collaboration with RAISE relationship and sex education consultant, Rebecca Jennings, to create free RSE teaching resources for secondary schools.
In two series, episodes explore challenging and important issues surrounding respectful relationships – including sexual harassment, domestic violence, misogyny in pornography, pornography versus reality, and the sharing of intimate images.
With the understanding that sex and relationships are ever-evolving topics, Rebecca believes a well-planned and executed RSE curriculum is key for the safety of young people today. As teens now live, learn and socialise online, the series sets out to educate on important yet challenging pornography-related topics.
“If children have the correct information, they are more likely to make informed decisions based on the right messages. Sex and negative messages are everywhere. We need to be open and honest with children and try not to be embarrassed ourselves as educators” – Rebecca Jennings, RAISE
What’s certain is that providing relevant and impactful relationships and sex education is more important now than ever, with people of all ages spending more time online at the hands of COVID-19 – three pornography sites are now among the top 10 most visited websites in the world, ahead of Amazon, Netflix and eBay.
Additionally, according to the NSPCC (2020), children and young people who watch pornography or sexually explicit content are at greater risk of developing unrealistic attitudes about sex, consent, body image and identities in relationships.
As restriction measures continue, remote learning has led to children spending more time than ever online to stay connected. With increased usage comes increased risk, as relationships rely more than ever on digital platforms.
As one of the world’s foremost providers of video-based digital curriculum, ClickView are passionate about supporting educators with tools and resources to complement their teaching and learning strategies. The new curriculum covers multiple sensitive topics and ClickView’s two ‘Respectful Relationships’ series have been created to help educators deliver with confidence.
“The new curriculum is so important for young people. It allows them to talk about issues and topics in a safe space. Young people are exposed to so many mixed messages through the ever-changing online world. They need a safe space to make sense of it all” – – Rebecca Jennings, RAISE
Designed for senior secondary students and their teachers, resources are available free to help teachers during this challenging time. They are supported by a nine-part professional development series for educators, which feature Jennings and can support teachers with the delivery of respectful relationships content in line with the new RSE curriculum.
As educators continue to deliver remote and blended learning, more and more educational resources are being sourced online. Expertly created, contextual videos such as those produced by ClickView, will help educate students on sensitive and important topics like pornography, while supporting teachers with the highest quality and trusted resources for digital learning.
Managing director at ClickView UK, Michael Wilkinson, commented: “Video helps make education more engaging, understandable and digestible. We are committed to providing resources educators need to deliver age-appropriate and evidence-based respectful relationships education. The series has been developed with subject experts to raise awareness of problematic behaviours among young people and create healthy attitudes towards sex and relationships.”
Supporting over 5,000 schools, colleges and universities around the world with online video learning content, the two ClickView series are in four ‘themed’ episodes:
- Series 1 – Respectful Relationships
- Series 2 – Respectful Intimate Relationships
To support with the transition to the new PSHE Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum, ClickView has also put together a helpful downloadable guide for schools and educators. To browse the full range of resources, visit: https://www.clickview.co.uk/free-teaching-resources/respectful-relationships/.
To find out more, visit Clickview.co.uk.
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