Tender Youth Board member Leanne joins an expert Tender panel to discuss how creative education can help prevent future abuse.

A couple of weeks ago I attended and spoke on Tender’s panel about our work in schools, thoughts for educators and what can be done in educational and social settings to improve understanding of healthy relationships. I was joined on the panel by Tender staff Daisy Douglas, Programme Manager (Tender West) and Jake Saunders, Head of School & Youth Setting Programmes, as well as talented educator Sarah Macnaughton. The panel took place at the Beyond Therapy Festival in Bristol, founded and hosted by The Green House organisation, which this year focused on child sexual abuse.

Throughout the festival, there were therapy dogs, blossom art, wellbeing spaces and a view of the water in Bristol. Everyone’s kindness and gentleness radiated through the building. Despite this being my first panel event, I felt safe and supported.

Prior to our panel, we were introduced to The Green House and The Flying Child project. Due to the protection needed for some of the survivors present, names will not be explicitly used here. I would like to note my sincere admiration for the strength, passion and pure kindness of these survivors and supporters attending this festival. Despite their pain, they had created projects, charities, fundraising activities and artwork of all kinds to express the key message – we are not alone and we are all supported.

One of the speakers, again who cannot be named for their own protection, said: ‘The only people that benefit from the silence of the survivors are the perpetrators. It is important that there is space and adults (such as teachers) who create these spaces for children to feel free to speak.’ This was so moving and drove home the importance of safe spaces, particularly in schools, with trained, knowledgeable and empathetic people.

Statistics provided by the host included the horrifying fact that one in six girls and one in twenty boys will face sexual abuse of some kind. Something has to be done, and very quickly.

Reeling from the sheer size of the problem, the day began with our panel, ‘The Power of Curiosity and Creative Engagement; Unlocking Prevention Education’. The very charming Daisy Douglas chaired the panel, which was attended by more than 100 people.

Students wish they knew more about healthy relationships at a younger age.

Daisy Douglas

Sarah explained her experience as a teacher and Head of Department for relationships education. She noted that the comfort levels of teachers to discuss topics like female genital mutilation and sexual relationships with students varied greatly. Jake expanded on this, explaining that parents and teachers are also divided on what can be taught to students and at which stage in their education. I pointed out that, even if the UK developed a sturdy curriculum for healthy relationships, there are still strong indicators that schools across the UK are inconsistent in teaching due to these divided opinions and lack of specially trained educators for this curriculum. Daisy fed back that students wish they knew more about healthy relationships at a younger age than they were being taught.

The key takeaways from the panel were the importance of consistent education, staying up to date on social media safety, increasing student voice and the power of prevention education for children, who can reach adulthood and relationships with the security of more knowledge, kindness and understanding.

Thank you to everyone at the event and for the amazing opportunity to speak and participate in the day.

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Find out more about Tender’s Youth Board.