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?
www.no-outsiders.com
Emma said, "It's amazing to be representing so many different kinds of family from Birmingham."
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