Resources

With the growth in film, video and website content — alongside technological developments in how and where people can easily access it — young people need increasing support to safely navigate the world of visual media. This free PSHE lesson pack: ‘Making Choices: Sex, Relationships and BBFC Age ratings’ from the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) helps students to explore the impact of viewing different types of relationships in the media, make effective choices about the content they view and resist pressure to watch something they don’t want to. The lessons promote risk assessment, decision making, self-regulation, resilience and media literacy.

The resource includes three lesson plans and PowerPoints for Year 8 or 9 students, with supporting classroom materials, and detailed teacher guidance on how to ensure effective lesson delivery. The lessons will help students to:

• Analyse age-ratings given to films and why these are important
• Develop the skills to manage situations where young people feel pressure to watch something
• Evaluate how relationships are portrayed in different media and the impact this can have on young people’s expectations about relationships
• Develop the skills to manage and respond to challenging content in films or online

We are delighted to award the Quality Mark to this resource, which powerfully draws together media literacy with relationships and sex education. Young people are growing up in a world surrounded by technology and receive constant messages about relationships and sex through the media. These lessons will help key stage 3 students to reflect on the expectations they may have about relationships, and how these expectations are influenced by representations of relationships in film and online.

Students will have the opportunity to discuss relevant scenarios, rehearse the skills of decision making and managing peer influence, and understand how age ratings can influence safer choices around the media they consume.