Single sex workshops were run for the first time in Penryn school. Rather than having weekly lessons, separates students into four gender based groups for 3 days a year to run a variety of PSHE sessions. These sessions differed dramatically to my previous experience of mixed sex groups. Gender requirements were more evident and my work style change accordingly.
Issues in single sex groups:
Females
Causes of stress:
- Body image - Size issues, feeling unattractive, diets and other issues directly related to eating disorders
- Relationships - true friendships, solitude, popularity and relationships with opposite sex
- Pressure - Academic, social and family unit
Where stress affects the body:
- Heart - Women all mentioned the heart as the main place of feeling stress.
- Brain - The general consensus was that only once they had calmed down did the impact of stress spread from the heart and arrive in their brains.
- Stomach - ‘Butterflies in the tummy’
Stress relief:
- Sport - not all were keen but women recommended a variety of sports such as sex, hockey, netball, attending a gym and kickboxing.
- Relaxing - various tools such as going for a bath or shower, practising yoga and reading. Sex was also placed in this grouping.
- Music - varied from leisurely and calming to loud and hectic (not placed in the above category for that reason)
-
Nights in - with friends or alone, depending on mood and topic causing stress. Soppy videos, food eg. chips, crisps and plenty of chocolate
- Self harm - in each session, the issue of self harm arose before I had chance to mention it! Most had a clear understanding of why people self harm and 3 women revealed occasions when they had self harmed.
- Eating - anorexia, bulimia and binge eating
- Drinking and drugs (including smoking of “normal” cigarettes) - escape methods “getting off your face so you don’t have to think about the problem”
Stress relief methods were discussed and placed into POSITIVE and NEGATIVE categories. Drugs and drinking were placed in both categories as although they established it wasn’t a fully positive technique, several women argued that smoking relaxed them enough to think straight. The others acknowledged this position.
In general the women’s attitude was mature and their feedback was entirely constructive. Conversation was candid and experiences were shared(see appendix). One young women came to talk after the session. She is now a regular client at HOV, attending individual and group sessions.
Males
Causes of stress:
- Relationships - friends winding them up, loneliness, bullying, popularity and relationships with the opposite sex
- Pressure - Academic, social and family life
- Physical - Lack of sex
Although similar issues to the women arose, the men were much more laid back in their attitude. A lot of showing off took place and joking at others expense.
Where the stress is felt on the body:
- Fists - Instinctual closing of fists, ready for battle
- Head - Thoughts of anger
- Genitals - aching / throbbing
This brought up genuine discussion and the males were surprised by the extent of their aggressive behaviour.
Stress relief:
- Sexual activity - masturbation and full intercourse were described as “great” stress relieving methods
- Aggressive behaviour to lifeless objects, others and self - Punch, kick, and smash things such as walls, doors and punch bags, other people (especially if the person attacked is the main cause of stress) and self by hitting, wounding and excessive exercise.
- Sport - The range of sports mentioned was very wide, counting football, rugby, running and paintball sessions.
Workshops with young men involved more activity and less in depth conversation. Issues were looked but in a round about way. Discussions felt at times superficial. The workshop appeared to be structured incorrectly for the requirements of young men and although there were enthusiastic observations, feedback confirmed there was a problem that needed to be addressed (see appendix).
Penryn school sessions allowed me to see how single sex groups ran in comparison with mixed. The females bonded very quickly and were supportive of one another emotionally whilst the males took a ’Jack the Lad’ approach to the whole thing. It may have been easier for young women to confide in a female worker than for the young men. Just as girls don’t feel comfortable talking in the company of the opposite sex, I am sure the same could be said for boys. In mixed groups they seemed to reach a compromise, the females becoming louder and more abusive, the males talking less but showing off a lot more.
Although previously content with mixed groups, I discovered that I was most productive working with female groups. My limited experience of working with young men’s groups became self evident. I decided to ask the HOV Truro Young Men’s Group (TYMG) for assistance.
The TYMG agreed to take part in a workshop as I would normally run it, then to provide constructive criticism. The young men concerned knew me and were happy to be honest with their comments. The following week we focussed on the revised workshop. Further idea’s flowed and the session proved to be much more activity based as a result. Much of the conversation became third hand “ when my friend gets angry…” or “what should a young person do if…”. The men found it less threatening and fun to be part of rather than just having to “sit through a session because the teacher told you to” (Young persons comment).
HOV was recently externally evaluated and I had the opportunity of taking an evaluator to a couple of sessions. Aware of the gender issues, she was able to talk with young people of both sexes and concluded that single sex workshops would be more beneficial due to differing requirements and attitudes towards mental health.
CURRENT SITUATION
The development of school workshops has been a tremendous learning experience. I have become aware of different working styles in single or mixed sex groups and I am content to work either way, although my preference now lies with single gender groups. The consultation with TYMG has improved my confidence whilst working in young men’s groups and this is a continuing process. Currently I am piloting a series of sessions with young men who attend Out of School Education in Penzance, providing similar workshops to those used in schools.
Single gender workshops are proving to be the most productive. All schools are now given the opportunity to run their sessions in same sex groups. Due to the difficulties with altering the school timetable, only two schools have booked single sex workshops at this date.
Discussions are taking place with schools in the Helston, Falmouth, Wadebridge areas, to provide workshops for their students in the near future. The single sex approach is being explained in greater detail than with preceding schools.
Whether workshops remain mostly mixed gender or not remains to be seen and depends largely on compliance from the schools involved. In the last year workshops have been assessed internally and externally, resulting in changes necessary for improvement. This assessment process will continue on a regular basis.
References
Meltzer, H. et al.(1999). Office for national statistics - Mental health of children and adolescents in Great Britain. London. The Stationery Office
National Curriculum for England. (1999). London. Department for Education and
Employment and Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
Neck, C. P. & Barnard, A. W. H. (1996). Managing your mind: What are you telling yourself? Educational Leadership
Eating Disorder Association Website. edauk.com
Acknowledgements
- Hear Our Voice, Young Peoples Mental Health Project (staff and young people).
- Secondary schools in Bodmin, Brannel, Budehaven, Callington, Camborne, Cape Cornwall, Newquay, Penryn, Roseland, Redruth, Saltash, St. Ives and Truro (pupils and teachers).
-
Penzance Out of School Education Team (workers and young people)
Appendices
- PSHE - National Curriculum
- School workshop plan
- Mixed sex feedback
-
Single sex feedback
APPENDIX 1
The National Curriculum for England: non-statutory
frameworks for personal, social and health education.
Key stage 4
The importance of personal, social and health education and citizenship
Personal, social and health education (PSHE) and citizenship help to give pupils the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy, independent lives and to become informed, active, responsible citizens. Pupils are encouraged to take part in a wide range of activities and experiences across and beyond the curriculum, contributing fully to the life of their school and communities. In doing so they learn to recognise their own worth, work well with others and become increasingly responsible for their own learning. They reflect on their experiences and understand how they are developing personally and socially, tackling many of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up. They also find out about the main political and social institutions that affect their lives and about their responsibilities, rights and duties as individuals and members of communities. They learn to understand and respect our common humanity, diversity and differences so that they can go on to form the effective, fulfilling relationships that are an essential part of life and learning.
During key stage 4 pupils use the knowledge, skills and understanding that they have gained in earlier key stages and their own experience to take new and more adult roles in school and the wider community. They develop the self-awareness and confidence needed for adult life, further learning and work. They have opportunities to show that they can take responsibility for their own learning and career choices by setting personal targets and planning to meet them. They develop their ability to weigh up alternative courses of action for health and well-being. They gain greater knowledge and understanding of spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues through increased moral reasoning, clarifying their opinions and attitudes in discussions with their peers and informed adults and considering the consequences of their decisions. They learn to understand and value relationships with a wide range of people and gain the knowledge and skills to seek advice about these and other personal issues. They learn to respect the views, needs and rights of people of all ages.
Developing confidence and responsibility and making the most of their abilities
1. Pupils should be taught:
a) to be aware of and assess their personal qualities, skills, achievements and potential, so that they can set personal goals
b) to have a sense of their own identity and present themselves confidently in a range of situations
c) to be aware of how others see them, manage praise and criticism, and success and failure in a positive way and learn from the experience
d) to recognise influences, pressures and sources of help and respond to them appropriately
e) to use a range of financial tools and services, including budgeting and saving, in managing personal money
f) about the options open to them post-16, including employment and continuing education and training, and about their financial implications
g) to use the careers service to help them choose their next steps, negotiate and plan their post-16 choices with parents and others, develop career management skills, and prepare and put into practice personal action plans.
Developing a healthy, safer lifestyle
2. Pupils should be taught:
a) to think about the alternatives and long- and short-term consequences when making decisions about personal health
b) to use assertiveness skills to resist unhelpful pressure
c) the causes, symptoms and treatments for stress and depression, and to identify strategies for prevention and management
d) about the link between eating patterns and self-image, including eating disorders
e) about the health risks of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, early sexual activity and pregnancy, different food choices and sunbathing, and about safer choices they can make
f) in the context of the importance of relationships, how different forms of contraception work, and where to get advice, in order to inform future choices
g) to seek professional advice confidently and find information about health
h) to recognise and follow health and safety requirements and develop the skills to cope with emergency situations that require basic aid procedures, including resuscitation techniques.
Developing good relationships and respecting the differences between people
3. Pupils should be taught:
a) about the diversity of different ethnic groups and the power of prejudice
b) to be aware of exploitation in relationships
c) to challenge offending behaviour, prejudice, bullying, racism and discrimination assertively and take the initiative in giving and receiving support
d) to work cooperatively with a range of people who are different from themselves
e) to be able to talk about relationships and feelings
f) to deal with changing relationships in a positive way, showing goodwill to others and using strategies to resolve disagreements peacefully
g) about the nature and importance of marriage for family life and bringing up children
h) about the role and responsibilities of a parent, and the qualities of good parenting and its value to family life
i) about the impact of separation, divorce and bereavement on families and how to adapt to changing circumstances
j) to know about the statutory and voluntary organisations that support relationships in crisis
k) to develop working relationships with a range of adults, including people they meet during work experience, personal guidance and community activities.
APPENDIX 2
Workplan for school workshops
Key stage 4
Stress Workshop Agenda
-
Post-it notes– young people to write down what stresses them out and stick on Fred (Full size punk - drawn by young person for HOV). (5 Mins).
-
Introduction to Hear Our Voice What are we? What do we do? Does mental health mean mad people? (5 Mins)
-
Examples of what stresses you out (on Fred). (10 Mins).
Worker and Young People to pick out the main topics and other interesting / relevant ones
Why do they stress you out? What is it about them?
Is it just one thing or is it a few or more things all together?
For example:
- “I sleep through the alarm and so miss the school bus.
- Then my friend laughs at my new haircut.
- I go to maths lesson, which I don’t understand, then straight into drama, which is horrible, as I have to speak in front of everyone.
- The bus journey home is horrible and it takes 30mins longer than normal.
- Once I get inside the house, I get shouted at for not doing the washing up (which I normally do in the mornings but as I slept in I wasn’t able to.
- I go upstairs to have some time on my own but all I can hear is RICHARD AND JUDY droning on, so I put my music on.
- Then my parents start banging on the ceiling, telling me to turn the noise down.
- Everything today has been stressful”
How would it have been if 1 of those events had occurred?
“ “ “ 2 of those events had occurred?
“ “ “ all of those events had occurred?
- Split in to 2 groups
Depending on groups use bean bags to throw to each other or draw round body on flipchart paper
Group 1 : where and how on the body do you feel stress– throw the bags from person to person
Where on the body can you sense stress? How does it feel?
For example – Where? HAND
How? SWEATY PALMS.
CLENCHED FISTS
Group 2 : ways of relieving stress – throw the bags from person to person. What ways are there to relieve stress?
Give an idea when the bean bag comes to you!
Groups to feedback to others
(15 mins)
-
Any other stress relievers.
-
Which ways of dealing with stress are positive and which are negative?
- How do they work? (10 Mins)
-
Places to go when stressed – how Hear Our Voice can help (5 Mins).
APPENDIX 3
Mixed sex feedback
Mixed sex workshop evaluations
- Identity of young people unknown unless volunteered on evaluation sheets.
- Where information is available sexual identity only will be disclosed.
- Mixed gender evaluations have been selected at random from school workshops throughout Cornwall.
“Showed me different methods of coping”
“I’m gunna rip paper next time, not punch walls. I promise it won’t be my homework!!” (F)
“Would like to know about anorexia and bulimia in more depth” (F)
“Stress is a big one isn’t it? Thanks for helping me prepare for the joys of exams”
“Girls issues are embarrassing… don’t want to know about periods and shit like that” (M)
“Want to talk more… Please call me on…” (F)
“F-----g waste of time”(M)
“I know what ----(name) wrote. Ignore him”(M)
“Do you know you’ve scared me shitless about my GCSE’s? At least you’ve given some ideas of how to get through them. Thanks”
“Rip paper and eat chocolate (I know, not too much; seretonin levels blaa, blaa,)”
“Can we have a stripper next week?”
“I realised my friends have similar problems from me and I’d not noticed before. I’m going to be a better friend from now on and we can share our problems more”
APPENDIX 4
Single sex feedback
Female evaluation comments:
“There is help there if you need it…”
“Other people get stressed as well. It is great to know I‘m not the only one. “
“Enjoyable, good to know you're there!”
“Tool Kit for life”
“Dealing with problems in life”
“Good to be talking so openly with other girls and not worrying about the boys hearing“
“It’s a survival kit for stress…”
“…Making us think about mental health and how it affects us through life”
“...made us think of things we may not have otherwise done.”
“Thank you. I am going to try some of the ways we talked about today rather than what I do at the moment (not v. good ways)”
“I think I understand more about eating sensibly… I didn’t realise my mates liked me so much!”
“Would you be able to come back? Some of us have worries about self harm and eating…”
“I think it should be a longer workshop. You were trying to cram it all in and its all stuff we should know about”
Male evaluation comments:
“ok I suppose…”
“Started off good. Liked the drawing round bodies bit but everyone got bored after ½ hour”
“Next time make it more active”
“My mate fancies you!!!”
“Need to think about this one…”
“Great. Thanks… Sorry some of the others were p-----s!”
“Helpful in many ways. Most of all I saw myself in a different way than normal… I am just an average kid”
“Bit girly for me”
“Ace to have a session without girls. I wouldn’t have said half as much if they were here and they talk so much about their problems, you don’t get a word in”
“It’s been more helpful than you could know…”
“Alright I suppose”
“Enjoyed it. Learnt quite a bit.“
