Body Confidence Teaching Pack Launched

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A new teaching pack to help children understand how images in the media are altered and the impact these have on self esteem was launched today by Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone.

A new teaching pack to help children understand how images in the media are altered and the impact these have on self esteem was launched today by Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone.

The teaching pack developed by not-for-profit company Media Smart marks an important contribution to the government’s ongoing Body Confidence campaign.

Primary school teachers will be able to download the materials to structure a lesson specifically tailored to the 10-11 age group, an important stage in a young person’s development.

Pupils will be guided to look carefully at the images they see in order to gain a more realistic perception of what is real and what is not. The lessons will explore how and why idealised images in advertising and the media are used to construct particular messages and make people feel a certain way.

Impossible standard

Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said: ‘Young people are being set an impossible standard by the images they are confronted with on a daily basis from the media and advertising and there is evidence to suggest this has a negative impact on self esteem.

'I want children to recognise from an early age that their value is worth so much more than just their physical appearance.

I am delighted to have worked with Media Smart to produce this important work.’

This project has been funded entirely by Media Smart.

Their Expert Group consisting of leading academics and educationalists in the field of media literacy, representatives from Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Education, Ofcom and the European Commission ensures the quality of the programme by writing, reviewing and approving teaching materials.

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