Recently we delivered workshops about Relationships in Hitchin Boys' School as part of the schools sex education course with year 9. The workshop starts by defining what relationships are, thinking about all the different relationships we have around us.
We then move on to think about more intimate relationships. Thinking about what we look for in a partner and challenging the students to contrast that against what the media shows us we should be looking for. We finish the workshop with a class discussion choosing to decide whether we agree or disagree with different statements to do with pornography, being curious about sex and more.

It is a really challenging session to deliver to year 9 boys but has an amazing impact and deals with some really key topics at their age. Thinking about the wider consequences of pornography always has an impact on the students and left one boy leaving the room saying:

I'm going to have to go and do some thinking, something is going to need to change

My hope for these sessions is that these boys are really challenged about what the media is telling them about relationships and that they have the tools to make good, positive and healthy choices for themselves. It would be amazing if the community was able to model to teenagers what healthy relationships look like.