Jake Daniels

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/61472174

Jake Daniels is 17 years old and a professional footballer who plays for English Championship Team Blackpool. Last week he made the news because he came out; Jake told people he was gay.

This has made news because Jake is the first football player in over 30 years to come out while he is still playing. There may be other footballers who are gay, but they have chosen not to tell people.

Jake says, "It's been such a long time of lying... and I feel like I'm ready to tell people about my story. I want people to know the real me."

"Now I do feel like I'm ready to be myself, to be free and to be confident with it all."

Jake has been praised by England Captain, Harry Kane for his announcement. Kane says, "Football should be welcome for everyone." Jake says before he came out it was affecting his mental health but since he told people, it's been a massive relief. He days despite this season being fantastic for the Blackpool team, "Off the pitch I've been hiding the real me and who I really am. I've known my whole life that I am gay, and know I feel like I'm ready to come out and be myself."

Jake says he has been inspired by other athletes like Tom Daley and Josh Cavallo to have the "courage and determination to drive change."

The day after Jake told his mum and sister that he was gay, Jake scored four at a match. He says, "It just shows how much of a weight off the shoulders it was and what a massive relief."

The Football Association said, "Jake, you are an inspiration to us all and we fully support your decision to be open, about this part of yourself. Football is a game for all, with diversity at its heart, and this is a hugely positive step as we strive to build an inclusive game that we can all be proud of."

There is a short video interview with Jake in the link above and also a really good short video interview with two other gay footballers. 

- what is coming out - why do you think telling people you are gay is called that?

- Jake says "It's been such a long time of lying." why do you think he felt he had to lie about being gay?

- what is homophobia?

- Do you think Jake worried about being gay or was he worried about homophobia?

- Jake says before he came out his metal health was being affected - how? (what does scoring 4 at a match the day after telling his mum show?)

- Jake is the first footballer in 30 years to come out. Do you think Jake is the only professional footballer who is gay? Why don't more footballers come out?

- "I've known my whole life that I am gay," - why didn't Jake tell people years ago?

- "I want people to know the real me." - why? Is this relevant to his game? Does it matter?

- "Now I do feel like I'm ready to be myself, to be free and to be confident with it all." how will coming out make Jake feel free and confident? What has changed?

- How did seeing other gay athletes support Jake? What does visibility mean? How does visibility affect us? 

- The FA say they want to build an "inclusive game" what does this mean? How can they achieve that?

- Is our school inclusive? How do you know? We can use words and say it is, but does it really FEEL inclusive? How do you make a place feel inclusive?

- What can we do to support Jake Daniels today in our school?

- Why is this about No Outsiders?

No outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com 

Eurovision

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61442439?fbclid=IwAR1_ECVgUzU-H4jULcDQR2y6r6zcuTf78k2NEFsUVh1zHtSKwY3gqBlFejY

The photo shows friends in a flat in Kyiv, Ukraine, celebrating their country winning the 2022 Eurovison Song Contest. Ukraine won with "Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra. The song "Stefania" won the televote with a huge margin as people across Europe chose that song as their favourite of the night.

Ukrainian people have been speaking about what the win means to them; Ivanna Khvalyboga, now living in Poland after feeling her home, said, "When they said that we had won, I shouted at the whole apartment. The win means incredible happiness for Ukraine and Ukrainian people."

Eurovision fan Yura Solodzhuk said, "It's important to remind the world about us again and again, that Ukrainian culture and music exists."

The lyrics to the song are about the lead vocalist's mother, but the song has become a rallying cry for soldiers on the front line about their own mothers. Ann Fedirko said, "Every soldier remembers his mother, who prays for him at night and he has to win a free life for her."

People in Ukraine were unable to celebrate their win in public places because of curfews in place across the country. People met in their flats and apartments to watch the contest. Denys from Kyiv said, "It's something that unites us with the whole of Europe. For us it is very important to be part of this, especially this year."

Alina, who held a small party in her flat, said, "In Ukraine we have war and some say it's not a time to have fun. But we need to have fun, we need to live and have understanding and feeling of life. Now we see support of the whole world and it feel great."

When Eurovision was first held in 1956, the aim was to heal a broken Europe after the war by bringing countries together. Today, Eurovison fans across Europe are saying the aims of the contest have become real again. Maria from Sweden says, "The reason that Eurovision started from the beginning was to unite Europe through music. And rarely has this need been more important than right now." 

- what is Eurovision

- how does Eurovision work, who takes part, how is the winner chosen?

- Why are people saying it is so important that Ukraine took part this year?

- should Ukraine take part in a song contest while they are at war? 

- look at the people in the photo - how do they feel about Ukraine taking part while they are at war?

- "For us it is very important to be part of this, especially this year." - why?

- "It's important to remind the world about us again and again, that Ukrainian culture and music exists." why? what is the image we have of Ukraine today?

- "we need to live and have understanding and feeling of life" how does watching a song contest achieve that?

- how do you think Alina and her friends felt when they heard they had won?

- back in 1956, why do you think people invented Eurovison? What was the situation and what do you think the aim was?

- Maria from Sweden says, "rarely has this need been more important than now" what does she mean?

- what can we learn from Alina and her friends in Ukraine?

- what does Ukraine wining the contest with such a huge vote show us about people in Europe today?

- why is this about no outsiders? (because the people of Ukraine are shown they belong and have support across Europe)

The winning song is here https://youtu.be/obZi8fbESWw

Children might also be interested in the UK song, that came second in the contest https://youtu.be/RZ0hqX_92zI

no outsiders: everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com

Scouts

 

 

 https://scoop.upworthy.com/girl-calls-out-sexist-announcers-comments-about-girl-scouts-in-epic-open-letter?fbclid=IwAR1w3W0NhKUCQWQQMmtfESSB41-u9dgjz5Lfb2uFv-lzF1s0bMFLghJB0ME

A 12 year old girl wrote a letter to the editor of her local newspaper about a remark make by an announcer at a scout parade. 

Julianne Speyer was marching with the Chesterland, Ohio Girl Scouts as part of a 4th July parade. Julianne's troop were marching behind the Chesterland Boy Scouts and as they passed the announcer, he remarked over the loud speakers that the boys were, "future leaders of America" while the girls were, "Just having fun."

Julianne was offended by these remarks and decided to remind people that girls can be whatever they wanted to be. She wrote an open letter to the editor of her local newspaper, which quickly went viral:

"My name is Julianne Speyer. I am 12 years old and I would like to inform you of how offended and disappointed I am by the announcer of the Chesterland's 4th July parade's comment about the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. The announcer labelled the Boy Scouts as 'future leaders of America' and he said the Girl Scouts were "just having fun." I found this comment very sexist and patronising. I would appreciate it if you would help me to let other people know how much this kind of thing happens and how bad it is. I feel it is an insult to both girls and women of all ages. This kind of thing happens way too much and it's not OK at all.

I have always been taught that if you think something is unjust, change it. So this is how I am making a change. Thank you for listening to me and I hope you can help me."

Julianne's letter went viral across America yet there was no response from the announcer or parade organisers. 

Eventually the parade organisers issue a statement in response to the letter:

"There was an unfortunate misunderstanding of two unrelated comments. The announcer is a volunteer and made an observation that participants were enjoying the parade, with no disrespect intended."

Julianne later commented, "You don't want to judge people based on their sex. Maybe, in the future if no-one beats me to the job, I'll be the first girl president. I could scream the message that girls can be anything they want to be. They can be in charge someday. We can be the leaders of America,"

Julianne received a letter from former Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, praising Julianne for using her voice and speaking up; "Never forget that you are valuable, powerful and worthy of every opportunity to fulfil your potential."

- what are the scouts?

- have girls always been accepted in scout groups? (scouts were formed in 1910 and girls were allowed to join in 1976)

- why do you think for so long girls were not allowed to join scouts?

- By commenting on Boy Scouts being future leaders of America and Girl Scouts as having fun, what does this show about the attitudes of the announcer?

- why was Julianne offended?

- what is a "letter to the editor"? what is an open letter?

- What is the name for the way Julianne writes (formal)- why is she writing in that way? What would in informal letter sound like?

- why do you think the letter went viral?

- why do you think the announcer never responded?

- Look at the response from the organisers; were the two comments unrelated? Is this a misunderstanding? Do you think there is anything missing from that response? (an apology?)

- what would a better response look like?

- "You don't want to judge people based on their sex" what does this mean?

- "Never forget that you are valuable, powerful and worthy of every opportunity to fulfil your potential." what does this mean?

- what can we learn from Julianne?

- Why is about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com

A real family

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-29834704

The photo shows a statue in Birmingham City Centre called, "A real Birmingham family.". Ask children to describe the family and ask who are the people in the photo.

The people standing behind the photo are the family used for the statue and the sculptor, Gillian Wearing, who stands in the middle.

The two woman depicted in the photo are sisters, Roma and Emma Jones and their children, Kyan and Shaye.

Gillian said she wanted to show that the idea of what makes a family isn't fixed. She liked how the sisters spoke of their closeness and how they supported each other.

But not everyone agreed that this showed a real family. Nigel and Angela Passey argued that the statue did not represent a typical family and there should be a dad; "It doesn't portray a family as it should be," said Angela.

On social media many people praised the statue but some argued it was not representative of Birmingham:

"Why is there 2 women? There should be a mum and a dad and two kids. It's a confusing sculpture in my opinion."

"Would be nice to see other representations, maybe with a father? Bit demoralising for dads this one."

"Where's Dad? Don't men count these days?"

Keep this final response to the end of the discussion so that children form their own responses before hearing it:

In answer to these comments, someone wrote, "No such thing as a "real" family. A family can be a anyone, it's who you love and look after and cherish that matters, whether that be Mum and Dad and children or 2 dads and children or just a loving couple with no children. Families come in all shapes and sizes, it's not one size fits all."

- why do you think Birmingham wanted a statue showing a family in the city centre?

- why call it "A real Birmingham family"?

- why do you think Gillian chose two sisters as her models?

- "the idea of what makes a family isn't fixed" what does that mean?

- lots of people like the statue, but there are some comments from people who disagree with the statue, why?

- is the statue demoralising for dads? what does that mean?

- "Don't men count these days?" what does this person mean by that?

- what does representation mean? Do you think dads under represented in society today?

- how do you think it feels to never see yourself represented in art or media? Do we see dads in media? Can you think of an advert that shows a family with a dad in it? 

- "It's a confusing sculpture in my opinion." why do you think this person is confused?

- How would you respond to these points?

- does the statue show a "real family"?

- read the final comment made in response to comments questioning the statue. What does this person argue about family? What do you think?

- what can we learn from Birmingham in this story?

- what can we learn from Gillian and from Roma  and Emma?

- why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com

Emma said, "It's amazing to be representing so many different kinds of family from Birmingham."