Free anti-homophobia DVD for every school in UK
January 25th, 2010
Every secondary school in Britain will receive a free Hollyoaks/Skins-style DVD in February, as part of Stonewall’s campaign to end homophobic bullying.
The DVD, called FIT, uses lively writing and a hiphop soundtrack to bring to life the reality of homophobia in schools.
The Times newspaper has called FIT “A kind of gritty take on the shiny E4 drama Glee”.
Research released in 2009 found that That’s so gay’ is used as an insult in 95% of secondary schools. One in five secondary school teachers said they would not feel comfortable addressing gay issues in the classroom, and one in six said they would not feel confident responding if a pupil were to ask questions regarding gay issues.
FIT is an adaptation of Stonewall’s highly successful play for schools, which was seen on tour by 20,000 pupils in Britain in 2008-9.
“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,” said Chris Gibbons, Stonewall’s Senior Education Officer.
“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.”
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 information, visit www.stonewall.org.uk/FIT
Watch a trailer for FIT:
‘[...] “That’s so gay” is used as an insult in 95% of secondary schools.’
That low? In truth, I have a hard time imagining one where it _isn’t_ used.
Josy ∼ January 25th, 2010 10:25 pmI don’t ever remember “gay” being used at my old school (although, to be fair, I wasn’t actively looking out for it).
It always seemed quite a lame insult, I think. There are so many more hardcore words out there which can be used instead. :D
Liz ∼ March 9th, 2010 8:13 pm