Learning - Sex, Lies and Soaps

Do soaps just glamorise sex, or can they shed some light on real life?

To consider how love and sex are represented in soap storylines
To explore the impact of sexual diversity in soap storylines, and how far they can support young people with non-heterosexual life-styles
To go behind the scenes of soap opera production to de-mystify the romance and glamour of on-screen sexual relationships
To discuss the effectiveness of the guidelines regulating what can and cannot be shown on screen
To look at the role of soap in setting a responsible moral agenda, and young people's responses to it.

Lucy, Charlotte, Phoebe and Francesca – Hollyoaks fans with a critical eye for over-romantic or over-moralising storylines
Jac, Lily, Romana and Danny – 16-year-old Liverpudlian OC-watchers, fascinated by alternative sexualities
Sam – an EastEnders addict who found the story of Sonia's lesbianism hugely supportive when he was coming out
Abimaro and Lakwena – young black girls who feel soaps can send out dodgy signals and over-glamorise unlawful relationships
Tracie and boyfriend – a more experienced young couple who can identify with many of the issues – peer pressure, unprotected sex, etc – raised in soaps
Jade and Vivian – streetwise London teens who believe that soaps with morally loaded storylines try too hard to discourage teens from having sex
Mal Young and Brian Kirkwood – executive producers of EastEnders and Hollyoaks respectively
Eliza Taylor-Cotter – Janae from Neighbours
Chris Fountain – Justin Burton from Hollyoaks
Grace Dent – soap fan and critic for the Guardian
Aric Sigman – anti-TV psychologist.

Channel 4's Citizenship and PSHE website

The 'Mind Matters' part of this Channel 4 website offers advice and tips on body image and self-esteem

Notes to support Channel 4 Learning programmes

Full listings for the week ahead, plus downloadable wallcharts for this term

Watch again for free on your PC with Channel 4's on demand service 4oD.