Essays on sexuality

Dear pupils and colleagues,

to finish our project on sexuality, I've asked the pupils of the 8th grade to write an essay on what we have been discussing and learning about this topic. Here are some essays that made me very proud. We shouldn't forget that we are referring to 12th, 13th and 14th- year-old kids.

Happy sexuality

A happy sexuality helps having a good and long life.

The information about a healthy sexuality has been provided to us since we were little kids. However, not everyone plays by the same rules. Change is in front of our eyes but sometimes we don't want to see it.

People discriminate others just because they don't have the same orientation. They are capable of kicking out their own kids because they love someone of the same sex.

Some people establish differences between man and woman  and transmit the idea that women are less able than men.

People don't always respect their bodies or themselves. They live a life of  risk behaviours,  full of disease and pain  because they don't protect themselves.

To have a healthy life, we need a healthy sexuality and the respect of the others and of ourselves.

Miriam Acúrcio, 8th D

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A happy sexuality is importanty for ourselves. We need to respect our body.

Sometimes people wish to be as thin and tall as a model. But kids, who are very short or very tall have just as many friends as kids who are of average height.

We need to protect ourselves and to accept different sexual orientations. We should also defend sexual equality.

We should talk with our families about sexuality.

Daniela Mota, 8th D

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To be happy we need to like ourselves and our body.

Growing up can be hard because there are kids that don't accept their bodies or the way they look. They wish to be thin and tall as a model.

Puberty doesn't happen at the same time for every kid, so kids change at different rhythms.

To improve our life quality, we have to have a healthy and happy sexuality and accept our body the way it is: thin or fat, tall or short.

Joana Natário, 8th D

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Having a happy sexuality makes us feel happier.

It is important to defend sexual equality because we have the same rights and we are all equal. We should accept different sexual orientations.

We should protect ourselves, respect our body and get information about sexuality. We should talk to well informed people because our body is very important.

We should also eliminate risk behaviours and promote our feelings.

Andreia Roberto, 8th D

Schools in Britain

Dear pupils and colleagues,

I'm discussing the theme school with my pupils of the 7th grade. They are learning basic vocabulary about school subjects, school objects, school activities, school building and school life. Besides very interesting materials using the Google images and animated gifts, school flipcharts and interactive games online, I've found this simple, concise and clear video on this theme. It's easy to understand and can be used as a listening exercise or simply as a vocabulary revision material. At the same time it's very useful to explore the cultural background of British schools and make the comparison with Portuguese schools. Hope you'll enjoy it.

Healthy lifestyle and happy sexuality

Dear pupils and colleagues,
after debating the themes healthy lifestyle and happy sexuality, me and my pupils from the 8th grade, class D, filled our school with colourful cardboards on these issues.
Here are some photos from our project work.

Happy sexuality

According to Lei 60/2009 de 6 de Agosto, Artigo 7º, which regulates Sexual Education at school, I've developed a small project with a class from the 8th grade. It is included in the Unit devoted to the theme: Healthy Lifestyle.

We've decided to elaborate cardboards to scatter all over school with the rules we've considered should be respected to achieve a happy sexuality. Some layouts were built using the mindmeister programmes - http://www.mindmeister.com/pt - and others using the schemes at hand in the Microsoft Office Word.

I cannot import these layouts into the blog but I'm leaving here some of our ideias and some of the images we've used to create our cardboards. I hope you will appreciate them.

Happy sexuality

RESPECT YOUR BODY

TALK TO WELL INFORMED PEOPLE

GET INFORMATION ABOUT SEXUALITY

PROTECT YOURSELF

DEFEND SEXUAL EQUALITY

DON'T TOLERATE SEXUAL VIOLENCE

ACCEPT DIFFERENT SEXUAL ORIENTATIONS

ELIMINATE RISK BEHAVIOURS

Eating disorders

Models link to teenage anorexia

The media's obsession with painfully thin fashion models has contributed to the growth in eating disorders among young girls, according to the British Medical Association.

A report by this association  identifies a link between the images of "abnormally thin" models which dominate TV and magazines, and the rise in conditions such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia.

The degree of thinness exhibited by models chosen to promote products is both unachievable and biologically inappropriateThe gap between the ideal body shape and the reality is wider than ever

British Medical Association report

There are an estimated 60,000 people in Britain with eating disorders. Nine out of ten are female.

The report calls for urgent action to reduce the pressure on young women to be thin, asking publishers in particular to be more responsible.

Find more information at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/769290.stm

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/76241.php

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fiona_Condron

Family hides French model’s death

Isabelle Caro dies at age 28

One of the tragic examples of an eating disorder that ended up in death was the case of the French model Isabelle Caro. Read some information about the case and think about this issue. Then debate it with your colleagues and teachers.

Isabelle Caro, 27 years old, weights 31kg. Isabelle appears naked on billboards in an effort to raise awareness of anorexia as an illness, but also to promote fashion label No-li-ta. This has caused the outrage of people such as the head of the Italian Association for the Study of Anorexia as they claim that the campaign might have the opposite effect and it might be promoting an emaciated look on young girls. The fear is that young girls will try to compete to achieve Isabelle's appearance, portrayed by controversial photographer Oliviero Toscani.

If you’ve seen the story on television, then you remember the shocking anorexic body of Isabelle Caro who promoted ‘No Anorexia‘ during Fashion Week of 2007. The family has decided to not release the news to the media that early last month (November 17th) Isabelle died.Find more information at:

Caro was featured in an ad campaign by Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani in 2007 for an Italian fashion house. Under the headline “No Anorexia,” Isabelle Caro said in an interview she had suffered from anorexia since the age of 13.

Caro died on the night of November 17th, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan, of causes related to her anorexia.


http://hubpages.com/hub/Anorexia-and-Milan-fashion-week
http://www.zimbio.com/Isabelle+Caro/articles/jsnjAsw3j7T/Family+hides+French+model+death+Isabelle+Caro

The Pursuit of Happyness

Dear Pupils and colleagues,

at the moment me and my pupils of the 12th grade - Curso Profissional de Análise Laboratoriais- are watching the film the Pursuit of Happyness. NO, sir, I'm not wrong. I didn't make a mistake. The title  presents the word happyness with "y" because the characters lived in a neighbourhood where people can't spell this word right. There are two explanations for that: most of these inhabitants are immigrants and have troubles with the language and secondly, and most important, they don't know what happiness means, because their life is hard and they have to struggle everyday in order to survive.

The film isn´t gloomy though. It is a very touching, moving and optimistic movie that encourages every human being to pursuit an inaliable right, which is written in the United States Declaration of Independence.

To attain this right, having a good job is essential in the character's life: Chris Gardner.

Based on a true story about a man named Christopher Gardner. Gardner has invested heavily in a device known as a "Bone Density scanner". He feels like he has made these devices. However, they do not sell as they are marginally better than the current technology at a much higher price. As Gardner tries to figure out how to sell them, his wife leaves him, he loses his house, his bank account, and credit cards. Forced to live out in the streets with his son, Gardner is now desperate to find a steady job; he takes on a job as a stockbroker, but before he can receive pay, he needs to go through 6 months of training, and to sell his devices.

Find more at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454921/

Data:

The Pursuit of Happyness is a 2006 American biographical drama film, directed by Gabriele Muccino and based on the true story of Chris Gardner. The film stars Will Smith as Gardner, an on-and-off-homeless salesman-turned stockbroker. Starring Will Smith, nominee for several awards, Jaden Smith (Will Smith's real son - winner of MTV Movie Award for Best Male Breakthrough Performance, PFCS Award for Best Performance by Youth in a Leading or Supporting Role - Male - Thandie Newton, Brian Howe and Dan Castellaneta, this movie won the following awards:

• Capri Award for Movie of The Year (winner)
• NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture

TRIVIA

The man seen walking across the street at the end of the movie while Chris and his son are walking away is the real-life Christopher Gardner. You can see Will Smith make a double take back at him.

More information in:
http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/thepursuitofhappyness/

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808722062/info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pursuit_of_Happyness

An excellent 2011

Dear pupils and colleagues,

sometimes we are so occupied with so many things that we forget the most important ones. This is a wonderful reminder another teacher has just sent me. Enjoy it and keep it present at all times in your life.

Have an excelent 2011!

Ana Paula