Secondary Research
The government is worried that children suffer from negative feelings about their body image and this can affect their wellbeing and self-esteem. As an answer, the Government launched the body confidence campaign. This fast evidence assessment has been custom-built to inform the work of the campaign, focusing on the causes, consequences and potential interferences associated with body image. The government used rapid evidence assessment to gather information. The founding were: girls have lower satisfaction rates than boys. This is because girls are 63% satisfied with their appearance when compared to boys that were 74%. Studies show a number of possible factors that may help to defend against negative body image or avert negative body image. These include upholding a healthy weight, encouraging close relationships with others, improving well-being, and plummeting any tendency to compare yourself to others. Research specifies that exercise-based involvements and psychotherapeutic intrusions are operative at refining body image.
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Debbie Epstein (1998) examined the way masculinity is constructed within schools in a sociological report. She found that working-class boys are likely to be harassed, labelled as ‘sissies’ and subjected to homophobic (anti-gay) verbal abuse if they appear to be ‘swots,’ which is a term to describe someone that studies or behaves similar to a girl. A feminine boy would subjected to verbal abuse from other boys because he does not look and behave the same. This was supported by Francis (2001) finding that boys are more afraid at being labelled a ‘swot’ than girls because this label had questioned their masculinity, which is associated with being tough and doing manual work. According to Francis, the laddish culture boys create in year seven is becoming widespread. Laddish culture is a group developed by young boys that has certain norms and values, often different from society. The group would stereotype boys that are look or behaviour different, and they even act on the stereotype by verbally abusing the boys.
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Planning Questionnaires
Before I started my campaign I had carried out a questionnaire that was given to my target audience in form time. Questionnaires would give me more information about my research quicker than interviews and with questionnaires I can target a large group. There are six forms in year seven in my school and the forms consist of fifteen pupils. The questions that were included in my questionnaire were best suited to my target audience. This is important because my target audience are already insecure about their body and the aim of my campaign is to teach them to value themselves, not to become more self-critical about their body. I had to make my questions not misleading. This is because if the questions were misleading, it would result on the pupils not answering truthfully. Therefore, making the research less accurate. (accessed on 22/11/2015)
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The questionnaire consisted of open and close questions because they are appropriate in different contexts and provide different kinds of information. Closed questions are questions in which all possible answers are recognised and the respondent is asked to choose one of the answers. Closed questions also involve slight effort on the part of the respondent and provide uniformity of questions and student responses, so they are potentially easier for evaluating the opinion of the participant. Open questions are questions that permit the respondent to answer in any way they wish and can help the researcher identifying how strongly attitudes of the participants are held or not.
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- Do you perceive your shape in an unrealistic way?
Tick yes or no
- How important to you is your appearance?
Tick an answer
- Not a lot
- All the time
- Frequently
- Never
- Daily
- Do you think that your body size or shape is a sign of personal failure?
Tick yes or no
- Do you feel ashamed, self-conscious, and anxious about your body?
Tick yes or no
- Do you feel uncomfortable and awkward in your body?
Tick yes or no
- How often do you compare yourself to other girls or boys? (Friends, celebrities, models, etc.)
Tick an answer
- Not a lot
- All the time
- Frequently
- Never
- Daily
If you ticked; all the time, frequently or daily: Why do you compare yourself to others?
Write your answer on the lines below
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The seven questions above is some of the questions that would be include in my questionnaire. I have used a lot of closed questions because it is the easiest and quickest to get a response from my target audience. I would be placing the questionnaires on the seats of the pupils and spares would be given to teachers because I want to get response from every pupil in year seven. This would make my campaign more effective because excluding some students that might have low self-esteem due to body image insecurity would help me tackle the issue at hand. I had given the pupils twenty minutes to fill out the questionnaire because it wouldn’t take longer than twenty minutes. If there is a language barrier, I shall translate the questionnaire in the most dominate languages in my school. Majority of pupils in my school speak Gujarati and Somalia. Therefore, there would be a translation of Gujarati and Somalia in another page of the questionnaire. I would not need a translator when I am evaluating the questionnaire because I speak Guajarati and Somalia.
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Primary Research
Assembly
In this part of the schedule is the introduction to why it is important to value your body. I would achieve this part by creating a PowerPoint. My presentation would consist of slides about eating disorders, obesity and the effect of low self-esteem. I would also would explain the activities and who would be the leader conducting it. I’ve mentioned in my objective that I would have people from my Local Youth Club leading different sessions. This is because there are ninety year seven pupils in my school.
Building Self-Esteem
Good self-esteem is significant for everyone because it helps you retain an optimistic viewpoint on life and makes you feel satisfied of the person you are, both inside and out. Most children that are in year 7 with good self-esteem find life much more gratifying. They find it easier to make relationships with peers and adults find it stress-free to deal with errors or distresses, and are more likely to stick with an assignment until they flourish. Building self-esteem is an activity to increase students’ confidence. In this session the pupils would be put into subgroups of five; there would be six pupils in each group. Later on, each group would be given an envelope with a task to act out in front of their peers. The task would all be different. To make sure no one is left out in the small play; a hat with slips of papers that has different roles, such as a police officer or nurse would be given to each student to randomly pick out. Then as a group the pupils would have to fit the roles that were picked random by students to the scene given to their group. If there is conflict among the group it would be resolved by the teacher or the team leader. The child that has disrupted others from contributing would be dealt with using behaviour strategies, such as demerits and detentions. The child would be more likely to behave if the warning came from an authority figure. All the groups would be given thirty minutes to rehearse their scene. The groups would be helped by the youth leaders. After break they would be performing the scene. To encourage the pupils into contributing to the activity costumes from the drama department in my school would be given as a prop for the groups. This would hopefully make them engage into the role.
Mass Media
In this activity children would be taught the influences and impact that social media has on a person. Our views on our body is influenced by our friendship circle and the mass media. This is because the mass media has shaped our view. Philippa Roxby article on ‘Does social media impact on body image?’ states that “social media has a huge effect on young people's body confidence.” Children in year 7 tend to be more cautious about what they post on the internet because their starting to make new friends in a larger school. They would be more likely to enhance their pictures with filters. Kelsey Hibberd is mentioned by Roxby because she is inspiration to children starting secondary education. Hibberd says "No-one seemed to notice at primary school, but then in Year 7 everyone started pointing at me, noticing things, making me think I was ugly and not special." This links to what I stated about the changing environment can affect a child. Children in secondary education tend to be more mean and straightforward to another. The students like Kelsey Hibberd would try to fit in and may even crash diet.
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I would show the pupils how media can influence them by displaying pictures on the projector and asking them what they think of the person. The first picture I would show would be a Photoshop of three different people to make a perfect person. This would hopefully make the children understand that what is portrayed in media isn’t always honest. The other pictures would be of inspirational celebrities that have become accepting of their body. The people would be Demi Lovato, Jennifer Lawrence, Lorde, Prince Fielder, Khloe Kardashian, Taylor Swift and Adele. Taylor Swift has admitted to suffering from bad body image issues. When she come to terms with that body image issues were normal, she was able to become accepting of herself. Taylor explains that reading about other people’s experiences had helped her understand that she is not alone and soon she understood that she would learn to love herself because she was inspired by others. Lorde had uploaded pictures that is not Photoshop to remind her fans that having flaws doesn’t mean you are ugly. These celebrities would inform children that even people on magazines are insecure about their body. Celebrities have learn to embrace their body, and so should the pupil. I hope this would be the impact of my health campaign; the pupils would know that being insecure is natural.
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Assembly
The second assembly is where I would hand out a feedback questionnaire to the pupils. This is because I want to see if their views of themselves have changed. I would also see that if the campaign had an impact. I would end the assembly by showing them pictures of different figures without their heads. By this I mean I would show a models picture, such as Paris Hilton modelling shoots and Hayden Panettiere. I’m using these two as an example because Hayden Panettiere might not be extremely skinny as Paris Hilton, but she is seen as having a better figure. I would let the children vote on who they think is better. It would be a fun activity to show them that being skinny does not mean you are more beautiful. No matter what body shape anyone is, they are still beautiful.
Feedback Questionnaire
The feedback questionnaire I would be giving to the children would consist of closed questions and a few open questions. This is because I don’t want to make the children spend more than twenty minutes on this questionnaire. I would be handing out the questionnaires during my last activity of the day. Therefore, I would have to manage my time properly. I included a small sample of what kind of questions that is included in my feedback questionnaire.
- How did you find the Building Self-Esteem workshop?
Circle a number; 1 being bad and 10 being good
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
- Did you learn anything from the campaign?
If yes: please write what you have learnt below
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- How did you find the Mass Media workshop?
Circle a number; 1 being bad and 10 being good
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Budget
I had been provided a fifty pound budget from the Head of Sixth Form for my body image campaign. I had intended to spend the money on t-shirts that have a quote about valuing yourself, but that has turned out to be much expensive. I have decided to go for a personalised badge from Camaloon. I would make my badge glow-in-dark, so the children can enjoy playing with it and seeing it in night-time. When I was in year seven, I really liked glow-in-dark products and would enjoy turning off lights to see it glow. The badge would say “There is No Wrong Way to Have a Body.” This quote would help boost self-esteem because it would show the children that there is nothing wrong with any body type. The personalised badge would cost £39.65 and the quantity is 100, which is useful because there is 90 students in year seven. The badge cost £28.09, there is a VAT increase of £6.88 and the delivery charge is £4.67, altogether it would cost £39.65. The picture below would be the badge. I really like the design because it attracts both genders and doesn’t exclude anybody. The colours would suit the glow-in-dark effect. I was given permission by the Head of Sixth Form in my school to use the school account details when purchasing the badges.
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Approach Used
The approach I used for the campaign was educational and behavioural. This is because I seek to teach children in their first year of secondary education to value themselves as a person. I would use activities to change the pupils’ behaviours because if I educate them about the importance of body image, I’m hoping that their self-esteem would increase. This would make the pupils more confident and outspoken. The Building Self-Esteem is an activity that I created to make the children feel valued. Identify that beauty, well-being and strength come in all sizes. Carol Johnson, author of Self-Esteem Comes in all Sizes says that “actual beauty includes what’s inside, your passion for life, your playful spirit, a smile that illuminates up your face, your sympathy for others.” This is a good quote to show that all sizes are beautiful. I want to set an example of admiration for size diversity. Children naturally come in different sizes and builds and that is fine.
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Resources
The resources I would use for my health campaign on body image issues would be leaflets and posters. This is because posters can be placed in variety of locations, such as toilets, classrooms, changing rooms and canteen. The leaflets I would be using would include everything I had written on my PowerPoint presentation because I’m hoping when they look at the leaflets it would make them remember the session they had. I would keep the posters around my school two weeks before I actually carry out my campaign. I might keep the posters up for two-five months because it would help to remind the children about valuing their body image after the campaign. I have included three examples of the posters I would use.
The first poster would be posted for both genders to see because I want them to acknowledge that eating disorders are not just for girls; boys can be affected. I want them to look above the stereotypical views that are influenced in a young age. Hopefully, this poster would make the target audience understand that insecurities can affect both genders and even those that don’t look like it. By this I mean someone that isn’t stereotypical seen as a person with a body image issues. For example, a pupil that is popular. The cover line is a clipart of people that are all different size. The clipart are both males and females to give the concept that everyone is different, but can be affected by eating disorders. This is because eating disorders are stereotyped as a ‘girl’ thing because majority of campaigns are aimed for women and girls. I want my target audience to know that it is a problem for boys as well. The colour scheme of the poster is blue, white and green, which are mutual colours because blue, white and green is not generalised for boys and girls. This is very important because my target audience are boys and girls.
The heading is bold and eye-catching for the target audience to see because it is in two colours; green and blue. The word ‘gender’ is in capital letters and is green whilst the other parts of the heading is in blue. This was deliberately done to make the audience look at the word gender and focus on the meaning. I want to send a message that boys are affected as much as girls with body image issues, such as eating disorders. I choose to base this poster on eating disorders because it is serious problem caused by body image issues. In order to prevent eating disorders, I would have to focus on the problem with body image issues.
The colour scheme for the second poster is dark blue and white, which is a mutual colour for both genders. I choose to use dark blue as the background because it would make the white writing outside out more than other colours and would also appeal to my target audience. This is because blue is associated with depth and stability. It signifies trust, loyalty, knowledge, confidence, intelligence, faith, reality, and paradise. Blue is considered valuable to the mind and body. The heading is in white front colour because it would contrast against the dark blue and would hopefully draw my target audience into reading it. The words ‘before’ and ‘after’ are in capital letters and shaded in fine pencil marks to point out the fact that valuing yourself early would help your emotional state. This is because if you don’t value yourself before then you would be more likely to go through depression and have emotional issues that can affect your social, intellectual and physical development.
The last poster is of pizzas shaped in different sizes. This would show children that they shouldn’t be upset and insecure about their body shape because everyone is different. The colour scheme for this poster is white and black. This is because I want the pizzas to standout. If I was to choose another colour background, such as pink or green. The pizzas would not show. The poster images are of pizzas that are all different shapes and sizes. This would show that it is perfectly fine to be skinny or little heavy on the stomach. The heading says that ‘beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.’ this would hopefully point out whatever shape or size you are, you are still beautiful. This might be referred to saying that beauty comes within, it is all about inner beauty rather than outer.
Success Criteria
The strategies I have to measure success is questionnaires. I would hand out two questionnaires; one of the questionnaires would be one to see if the student have insecurities and the reasons why. The other questionnaire would be feedback. This is important because the feedback enables me to know if my campaign about body image issues was useful and if it had an impact.
I think this campaign I have constructed would be a success, with 74% of the pupils valuing their body image more. 26% opinions might not have changed due to them being confident about their body image or they need a professional’s advice on valuing their body. This may be because the pupil has lost faith and views themselves as ‘worthless’ for a really long time. The aim of my campaign was to educate children into valuing themselves. I know that some of the pupils would need therapist because they would need more than a day to learn to value themselves. I predict that more than half the pupils in year seven would learn about valuing body image from the campaign. I don’t think there would be any unintended impact on my campaign. This is because my campaign is to educate pupils in year seven about valuing themselves. I would like to expand my campaign to other year groups in my school, but I would focus on year seven. This is because they are seen to be the most insecure year group due to the change of schools and it would be a smaller sample size.
