Help Gok get Body Confidence on the Curriculum

[thezombiemessia]

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/how-to-look-good-naked/articles/help-gok-get-body-confidence-on-the-curriculum

The article is interesting, and links to a petition to sign and be sent to the government about this.

I would appreciate it if you all took the time to read through and, if you agree with it, sign the petition.

This issue is quite close to my heart, and I hope most (if not all) of you agree that the way a child grows up thinking about their body will effect them for life.

It is thanks to false perceptions on body image that myself and Lindsey feel the way we do about ourselves.

[Soop]

I'd say it would be expecting a bit much to have it on the curriculum. It would be nice if there was some kind of umbrella subject, but when many leave school unable to read or write, I feel the matter to be secondary, though I recognise the importance. Also I feel that schools really need to focus more on teaching how to learn, and the teachers learning how to teach.

[DigitalSouls]

Hmmm nope I won't sign that. Why? Cuz that's nothing for school imho. Parents should teach their children what a bad body shape can do to your health. The children may or may not accept this and should choose for itself.

Beside that you can still look good if you have gained some weight. Better then those walking candle-sticks called models. If it comes down to "It's all about the looks" there's something wrong with the society~

[thezombiemessia]

I'd say it would be expecting a bit much to have it on the curriculum. It would be nice if there was some kind of umbrella subject, but when many leave school unable to read or write, I feel the matter to be secondary, though I recognise the importance. Also I feel that schools really need to focus more on teaching how to learn, and the teachers learning how to teach.

It would be placed under the PSHE subject, which would mean it wouldn't require anything new to be done...just a new subject to be taught to kids that are also learning about Sexual Health, Sexuality, Religion, etc.

Though I wholeheartedly agree that Kids these days need a much better educational system than the one we have.

Hmmm nope I won't sign that. Why? Cuz that's nothing for school imho. Parents should teach their children what a bad body shape can do to your health. The children may or may not accept this and should choose for itself.

Beside that you can still look good if you have gained some weight. Better then those walking candle-sticks called models. If it comes down to "It's all about the looks" there's something wrong with the society~

You're missing the point.

The subject wouldn't teach you to think "Oh, I have to look like these models" it would be teaching the kids that they don't have to look like that, and looking like that is often very unhealthy.

How many people do you/did you know at school that were teased, bullied, or beaten up because they had Braces? Glasses? Spots? Small Breasts? Slightly Overweight? Big Nose? Or any number of things that kids poke fun at?

People like Myself and Lindsey (my fiance), and near enough all of our friends, were teased, bullied and beaten up because of the way we looked. Because we didn't fit the "Super-Model" stereotype, we were made fun of (and, yes, beaten up).

If kids were taught, as a part of a much larger subject, that looking like a super-model isn't the norm, then this could dramatically cut down on cases of Bullying, Depression and Suicide.

[Tenebra]

Personally, I don't think it's the school's responsibility and I don't see how the education system can be held responsible to eradicate such a rooted issue. As far as I can tell the importance of appearance goes well before the age of mass communication, there's just a wider level of exposure these days.

I'm getting concerned at seeing how parents are having their responsibilities progressively taken off them in their children's growth, and I'm not incredibly keen on standardised mass state indoctrination producing clone kids.

In my opinion, wholesome wellbeing is something you aren't taught by a teacher in an hour class once a week; we can increase political correctness but confidence and awareness comes from daily education and validation within the family unit.

[The Possessed]

This was also a personal topic to me and I was happy to read it. I'm a 14 stone man who once was 20 and due to the prejudice I faced a few years back I'm forgever reminded of how I was and I will always obsess and think that my body should be smaller. I could probably get to 10 stone if I really wanted and still not be satisfied. That's the effect the subject has had on me.

"The human mind should always come first. A person is not just how they look. My generation (I'm 23) has been raised on concepts on what is considered acceptable or not in physical appearences, how to act, hobbies and interests. This is merely repression and encourages perfectly fine people to spiral into depression. People are subject to both verbal and physical abuse for falling outside of what is called "normal" catagories for the above topics. This is a naive way of thinking that merely brings more hate into the world. We are how we are in appearence and no one should have the right to judge us on what is right or wrong other than ourselves. The education that has been mentioned in this article sounds like an excellent way to teach the new generations about seeing beyond your eyes and what you read in the media."

[thezombiemessia]

Personally, I don't think it's the school's responsibility and I don't see how the education system can be held responsible to eradicate such a rooted issue. As far as I can tell the importance of appearance goes well before the age of mass communication, there's just a wider level of exposure these days.

I'm getting concerned at seeing how parents are having their responsibilities progressively taken off them in their children's growth, and I'm not incredibly keen on standardised mass state indoctrination producing clone kids.

In my opinion, wholesome wellbeing is something you aren't taught by a teacher in an hour class once a week; we can increase political correctness but confidence and awareness comes from daily education and validation within the family unit.

The problem is, the vast majority of parents AREN'T doing this.

A few weeks back me and my friends were in a McDonald's, and this girl was just sat there recording everyone around her on her phone, slagging everyone off as loudly as she could.

She was making fun of overweight people, making fun of people that looked slightly different, etc, etc.

It'd be absolutely amazing if the parents would do something about it, but when we confronted this girl...she said it was OK because her Mum did it all the time.


I don't see why a combination of the two isn't possible, considering the mass ignorance the current generation of parents are producing. Which isn't exactly surprising considering we're seeing an increase of children having children.

[The Possessed]

It is of course a responsibility of the parents. But the teachers for young children also have the responsibility of helping to shape how a child sees the world and reacts with it. When a child gets to school they are then lost in a mass of different people and they no longer have their parents' teachings or guidance over them, not to mention that as TZM kind of hinted on, many parents are incompotent children who haven't grown up themselves or are phyiscally underage.

The education system and the teachers take over raising the children and teenagers at school so the teachers then also need to teach children what is respectful, moral, it goes beyond just academics.

[Tenebra]

TZM, this isn't any different from what was happening 20-30 years ago, it's not a new wave of horror.

I don't believe that the state can or should take responsibility for the full education of their citizens, it isn't feasible and to be honest I'd be scared to live in a world where the state - with its limited resources - is in charge of bringing up the new generation with a one-fits-all programme.

The more responsibilities you take off the parents, the less responsible the parents will feel.

Talking about the "celebrity" in question, I watched his programme once and I felt uncomfortable at the way fragile people were exploited for the sake of tv entertainment.

Edit: looking further into it, I honestly can't see how one hour class a year would make a difference to a teen's life.

[No47]

Unfortunately there will always be prejudice in our society regardless of the measures we take to prevent them.:(

The biggest culprit imo is the media and how they portray something to be the norm, ie size, weight, looks, style, etc and if you happen to be different then your a freak.:mad:

[Soop]

This is a good conversation.

I agree pretty much with Ten in that it's the parents responsibility. But there should be a natural cycle somehow of people realising that you can't treat people that way and passing that on. But that doesn't seem to happen for some reason, and it can spiral out of control.

A recent example for the brits, is "Young Dumb and Living Off Mum". Within about 2 weeks, they'd developed a pack mentality, and were basically bullying two of the girls (not for their appearance, but because of their work ethic/laziness). There's no way they could get away with talking to me like that, and one of the worst guys cried when the victim called him a **** as she left the house.

Sorry, that's a bit beside the point. I just... Hmm.
I think when you have a bit of stick, and then you find friends that are willing to stand by you and not judge you, then you know how lucky you are. I'm damn proud of my friends I have to say.

Sorry, I think I've lost the thread.

[thezombiemessia]

I can see where you're all coming from. If you take the responsibility away, then the parents will feel that it is all left up to the state. Soon, parents would just become "At home carers" whilst the government does the rest.

And I know it's not a recent thing for this be happening, but over the years it has gradually gotten worse.

In just the short 22 years that I've spent on this planet, I've watched Ignorance rise from a minority to the majority.

Everywhere I go there is a massive lack of common descency (sp?) and respect for anybody, and nothing is done about it because (oddly enough) the government has set up too many rules to protect the people that commit the crimes.

For instance, if a teenager strikes out at a Teacher, the Teacher would get in trouble and serve time if they attempted to restrain the teenager. Where's the sense in that?

Teenage Pregnancy is at an all time high, and as more children have children, the ignorance and disrespect of our "culture" slowly slips away.

The kids don't have the chance to grow up and learn about the world, so when they bring up their children...they don't teach them about the real world, they teach them about the world through the eyes of another child.

As this spirals out of control, we're left with the problem of either hoping that the parents will deal with it, or that somebody else will deal with it.

Our Government and Educational System as a whole needs to be reworked, but this can realistically only be done one small step at a time. I would honestly prefer somebody to be trying, rather than nobody to be trying.

EDIT:

Also, "Young, Dumb & Living Off Mum" is hilarious.

It's a perfect example of just how bad our "culture" is becoming, when these kids don't even know how to use a cooker, or go to the shop.

Although the people staying in shouldn't treat the others like that, the 2 girls that have been kicked out so far are quite deserving of being taken out of the show.

One of them hadn't washed in 3 weeks, and everytime she went to the toilet she left the bowl in an incredibly unhygienic state.

[EliteFreq]

In a way I think it'd be a good idea. But I don't see how it could have much of an effect. Those that are ignorant enough to abuse those that are different are surely ignorant enough to not care how people feel even after lessons. All the work it could do to those being wronged will be undone by the unchanged bullies.

[thezombiemessia]

Even if the bullies persist, it's often nice to just have 1 person in authority to tell you that you're not a freak.

[DigitalSouls]

Oh ok, misunderstood the whole thing.
I still think it's the parents work telling their children that the model thing isn't the norm. Behaviour is one of the first things a child should learn and hopefully will learn.

The look of a person is the first aspect someone will sense. Teaching children in school that this isn't the viral point about a human being but more the smallest glimpse a person gets from another one may be too late IF it should be "teached" in some way.

I was bullied at school myself and now that I'm 28 I'm still confronted with such situations by teenagers sometimes. I'm about 5"4' tall but hey, I know where I stand in life and what I can do. I'm also running along in the Goth/Cybergoth-Scene, so I have to react on such situations when I'm going for my favourite places by train/bus. So I can give good Contra (wordwise) That's something you need to learn way sooner.

Getting bullied and such might have a psychological impact on the "victim" but it's more a social matter that might be teached way sooner. Here in germany, I noticed that it went away from the "how you look" and moved over to "what you wear". Not having brand clothes like Nike or something is the point you'll get bullied.

I think the school should prepare you for life in the "knowing" section and pupils have enough they got to learn. Teaching them the social behaviour is something that should be there in general outline when they go to the Kindergarden, teached by the parents.

[Tenebra]

Even if the bullies persist, it's often nice to just have 1 person in authority to tell you that you're not a freak.
I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of teachers don't cast a blind eye on bullying, but I still can't see how one hour a year (that's what's suggested in the official campaing website) is going to make any difference.

Let's go back to personal responsibility - it's the parents and it's every single one of us, whether it's on or offline. This is why I go down with a heavy sledgehammer every time I see any even vague hint of bullying, even more so on the interweb where none of us knows who's behind the screen. I think that the personal commitment not to bully and to stand against bullys from every person here would make far more of an impact than the implementation of the proposal.