Marcus is a 13 year old boy from Hertfordshire UK. He is a talented trampolinist who has competed at a national level. Marcus was born with a face that looks different.
At school Marcus has experienced bullying ; he has been called many unkind names. He went to a group called Changing Faces to build his confidence and now he is doing well, saying he is not affected by name calling if if happens.
Marcus says the worst thing is when adults stare at him; "It's when adults stare and then keep on starring that I get fed up. It's just so rude."
Marcus's Mum says people used to say, "Oh what a shame!" when Marcus was younger. Mum would answer, "What's a shame? He's fine, he's healthy!... to me he's was just Marcus, I didn't see a difference really." Mum would tell Marcus to smile back at people staring because they would either realise they were staring and feel embarrassed or they would smile back.
Marcus says at his trampoline class, "everybody has always accepted me for who I am and have never asked why I look like I do or stared.... everyone respects you for what you can do and not what you look like."
A new film has been made about a boy called Auggie who has had a similar experience to Marcus; the photo shows Marcus with the actor who plays Auggie in the film. The message in the film is, "Choose kind".
What do you see in the photo?
How are the boys similar?
How are the boys different? (height, clothes, maybe age)
Explain the story
- What is Marcus good at?
- What kind of person do you have to be to compete in competitions at a national level?
- Why has Marcus experienced bullying (children might answer "because his face looks different" but explain that is not the reason Marcus has experienced bullying; no one at Marcus's trampoline class bullied him. Marcus had experienced bullying because some people don't understand about people looking or being different; some people don't understand about No Outsiders and think it's OK to treat people differently because of who they are. Marcus hasn't experiences bullying because of who he is, he has experienced bullying because of who other people are and their behaviour"
- Why is Mum feel cross when people say, "What a shame"?
- Why does Mum tell Marcus to smile at people who stare?
- Marcus says people at his trampoline class respects you for what you can do, not what you look like. What does he mean?
- How would you describe Marcus's character?
- What can we learn from Marcus?
- Why do you think the message in the film is "Choose Kind"?
- Why is this story about No Outsiders?
No Outsiders in our school: Teaching the Equality act in Primary schools by Andrew Moffat
Reclaiming radical ideas in schools: Preparing young children for life in modern Britain by Andrew Moffat
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