Stonewall Produce First Anti Homophobia Feature Film To Be Distributed To All Secondary Schools
[tweetmeme] Stonewall, the gay equality organisation will in February send every secondary school a copy of it’s new DVD FIT, which is the first feature film made for schools with the aim of tackling homophobic bullying.
Powerful, intelligent and very entertaining, the storyline combines hip-hop, humour and cool street fashion with writing similar to that Skins to create something Stonewall hope is as engaging for pupils as it is informative.
Devised in an interactive format, the aim of this anti-homophobia film is to get pupils to think about the way they use the word ‘gay’ not just as a sexual orientation, but also to mean anything rubbish or inadequate. Alongside this it is also being seen as being able to offer the much needed support and resources that teachers say they are lacking, something which was highlighted in a recent YouGov study for Stonewall which found nine in ten secondary school teachers said pupils currently experience homophobic bullying in their schools, but they had had no specific training on how to deal with it. The report also found one in five teachers did not feel comfortable addressing gay issues in class, and one in six did not feel confident responding if a pupil were to ask questions regarding gay issues.
FIT was originally a play that Stonewall toured in 2008-09 that was seen by 20,000, with reactions from students focusing on how it had encouraged them to reassess their prejudices with Navdeep, a year 8 pupil at a south London school, said: ‘After watching FIT, we realised it was wrong to use the word gay as a cuss word. You shouldn’t outcast your friend if they’re gay.’
Chris Gibbons, Stonewall’s Senior Education Officer, said the ‘Overwhelming positive response to FIT as a touring play – from pupils and teachers alike – convinced us that a feature film would help every secondary school in Britain to challenge homophobic bullying. Teachers are still ill-equipped and unsure of how to deal with gay issues in their classrooms. Stonewall’s film for schools will help plug this gap.’
Written and directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair, the play definitely had the effect he wanted with him explaining ‘When on tour I would ask the kids how many people thought homosexuality was wrong. In every single school the vast majority, about 80%, would put their hands up. But kids would come up after the performance and say quite openly “I walked into this room homophobic and will leave it a changed person.”’
FIT was produced with the support of a consortium of funders and will be sent out to every secondary school by the end of February with the support of the teachers’ union NASUWT. For more info visit the Stonewall FIT website.
