Kate Edwards from the Childnet Education Team looks at how the voice of youth is playing a key part in the PSHE Toolkit.
We are excited to announce that we are now in the initial phase of extending the Crossing the Line PSHE Toolkit!
Previous toolkit
Last year we launched the brand new ‘Crossing the Line’ PSHE toolkit.
Created by Childnet as part of its work in the UK Safer Internet Centre, with funding from the European Commission and Government Equalities Office, the toolkit explores the themes of cyberbullying, sexting, peer pressure and self-esteem. Alongside this, Childnet delivered an updated cyberbullying guidance to help schools prevent and respond to this issue.
Extending the toolkit
We are now in the initial phase of extending the toolkit to cover further themes that impact on the digital lives of young people.
At the heart of this resource is our work with young people. It is through this work that we have selected the next three topics covered by the toolkit extension: body image, pornography, and healthy relationships. These themes are an essential part of the current Sex and Relationships curriculum, as set out in the recent government announcement.
These new resources will provide teachers with guidance and activities to spark discussion and to engage pupils with these topics. Similar to the structure of the last toolkit, the new toolkit follows the stories of several main characters, who lead pupils through the selected issues using different, but connected, storylines.
Working with young people
Young people have played an essential role in the creation of the new toolkit. Over the last two months, Childnet’s Education team have been running focus groups with young people across the UK. These have allowed the team to hear directly what young people have to say about their experiences online and how schools can help remove barriers that prevent young people from seeking help.
The young people gave us their thoughts and reactions to the new film concepts, which has helped us to explore their understanding and experiences of the three new topics further. The young people’s reflections on the characters thoughts and opinions have shaped the way in which their storylines explore the issues young people face online. The young people’s feedback in general will also ensure the films and characters in them are relatable, relevant and impactful.
Throughout the development of our guidance and resources, we will continue to draw upon the voice of young people and schools. We’re excited to be partnering with a range of schools across the UK to help us create a resource just as relevant and thought-provoking as the original PSHE toolkit.
