PARENTS AND TEENS: WELCOME TO MY WORLD

PROGRAMME 1: PEACHES AND SUE

ACTIVITIES

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Guidance

The programme can be used as the focus of a stand-alone lesson. These activities support a variety of individual, paired and group work and can be chosen and adapted to suit the needs of the students involved.

For further information, websites and other resources, see Find out more.

Teachers may want to refer to information on the DfES's Teachernet website about handling controversial issues:
www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/behaviour/
tacklingbullying/racistbullying/preventing/controversialissues/

Group agreement

Group agreements help to establish safe environments for young people to engage with potentially sensitive issues.

Firstly, split the group into pairs and ask them to spend 5-10 minutes discussing:

• how they would like to be treated in the group
• how they would like to feel within the group.

Now ask the group to discuss as a whole the points that they have come up with. It is important to ensure that pupils are clear about the following points:

• Respect must be a principal part of the lesson. Pupils should agree to respect everyone's right to an opinion and to challenge each other respectfully
• Everyone in the group should feel comfortable and safe to discuss the issues. However, pupils should have the right to respectfully 'pass' if they don't want to be involved in part of the discussion, and should not tell the group anything that might make them feel uncomfortable.

Develop these discussions into an agreement of how the group will work. Everyone should sign the agreement to demonstrate his or her commitment. Make sure that it is visibly displayed and return to it during future sessions if necessary.

Before viewing

The Background information on communication skills will help to identify the areas where this family is failing to communicate effectively.

Programme-related activities

How well is the family coping?
During the film Sue says several times how tough life has been since her husband left the family. How well do you think Sue and Peaches are coping with their lives? Sue says that whatever happens, Peaches will never have to give up skating, yet she seldom goes to see her daughter perform. Why do you think that is? List 10 words to describe the relationship between Sue and Peaches as you see it portrayed in the film. How many positive words did you come up with?

Getting more time together
Clip 1: 13:20 – 14:21

• In: (Narrator) 'Once again Peaches and her mum have barely seen each other.'
• Out: (Peaches) '…because a teenage girl's meant to spend time with her mum, isn't she?'

Peaches feels that her mum's job gets in the way of them spending more time together. How important do you think it is for teenagers to spend time with their parents? What stops them spending time together? What might happen if parents and teens don't see enough of each other? In a small group, brainstorm ideas for simple ways that teenagers and their parents could fit more time together into their lives, and make use of that time to get to know each other better. For instance, sitting down to a meal together once a week, turning the television off during some meals, going out for a coffee…

A place to put feelings
Clip 2: 17.13 – 18.06

• In: (Peaches) 'I just want to make everyone happy and make myself happy…'
• Out: (Peaches) 'I'll put all my emotions and feelings into my ice skating.'

Do you think that it's a good thing that Peaches has such a powerful outlet for her emotions? What might happen to those feelings if skating wasn't part of her life? Very few people can excel at a sport or activity in the same way as Peaches. Is it still possible to put a lot of feeling into a pastime, even if you can't master it to such a high level? Peaches says that when she's skating, she forgets everything else. In your group, list any activities or pastimes that give you a similar feeling.

Watching the films
What changes do you think would improve Peaches and Sue's relationship? Do you get the impression that either of them is likely to behave differently as a result of seeing the film? Sue promises to turn off her phone when Peaches comes home. Do you think she'll be able to keep her promise? Give reasons for your answer.