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You are here: Home / SELF LOVE & BODY IMAGE / Introducing the Naked Beach educational toolkit – bringing body image lessons into schools

Introducing the Naked Beach educational toolkit – bringing body image lessons into schools

July 23, 2019 by Molly 1 Comment

One of the reasons I went out to Greece last year to film Naked Beach was because, as a mum, I feel really passionate about changing the body image culture my girls are growing up in.

From social media feeds full of digitally manipulated images, to TV shows only presenting one ideal body type, to advertising campaigns only featuring one idea of beauty, to diet companies selling the idea that health only has one “look”… there are so many different ways our kids are being sold an idea of what their body SHOULD look like.

I never want my girls to feel like they aren’t enough – or feel like they need to change their body in order to become a valued, worthwhile, appreciated human on this planet. And that’s why I got naked on TV and continue to shout about the subject every single day via my podcast Body Cons, on Instagram, this blog and sometimes on the radio, telly and at various events too.

What is body image anyway?

Body image is not a fluffy subject, just for girls to worry about. The Mental Health Foundation recently dedicated the entire Mental Health Awareness Week to the issue, releasing research showing one in eight adults has had suicidal thoughts because of how they feel about their body. Countless studies have shown body image has a very real effect on mental health, self-esteem, quality of life, how kids engage and interact at school, physical health, nutrition etc etc etc. How we feel about our body matters JUST AS MUCH to our overall health as what we put into it and how we move it. And right now, research shows many of us don’t feel too great.

But how do we fix it? It takes more than just a few blog posts about body image, or a body positive TV show like Naked Beach. It takes more than a few events to empower women or radio debates about the subject. It takes more than a campaign to ban diet ads and weight loss products on or near schools. We need to keep talking about this stuff, keep challenging the messages being thrown at us, keep working to remove some of these messages altogether and now – the bit I’m coming to – introduce regular discussions of the topic in schools.

Bringing Naked Beach into schools

If you haven’t seen it, Naked Beach was a TV show aimed at transforming the nation’s body image. The first part of the series aired in April and May this year, on channel 4 at 8pm. It was watched by 1.6 million people – and I’m still getting messages every single day from people who continue to stream it on All4.

It’s very much NOT Love Island, or Naked Attraction, despite what some media publications have likened it to (simply because of the title I guess). It was a family show, aimed to open discussions around bodies and body image, to show a diverse range of bodies on telly, and to ultimately help us all be a bit kinder to ourselves.

I was one of the eight body confident hosts on the show and I’m so pleased to say I’m now one of the team of people who’ll be working to continue to bring that body love message out into the world, hopefully delivering the Naked Beach educational toolkit into a school near you.

The Naked Beach educational toolkit

The Naked Beach toolkit has been devised by Naked Beach expert, campaigner, writer and speaker Natasha Devon MBE, who’s worked for the past decade in schools, talking to students about mental health and body image.

Natasha worked with the producers of Naked Beach, Barefaced TV, to create a series of educational resources based on the show, using clips following two of the contributor’s stories. They’ve created two lesson plans that can be downloaded by teachers to deliver in PSHE lessons themselves, or delivered by a team of trained, verified speakers from the Speakers Collective – a supportive network of quality assured public speakers.

By the end of the lesson, teenagers will understand how a lack of body confidence can affect other areas of life, they’ll have explored ideas about the conceptions of “normal” bodies they may have internalised from social media and pornography, and they’ll have learned some techniques to improve their own body image and confidence. The lesson also debunks the myth that feeling positive about your body can lead to unhealthy behaviours or “encourage obesity”. The knock-on effect will be to reduce body-image based bullying and give teens tools to use social media in a way that enhances their own body image and self-esteem.

It’s a really special legacy of the show and one I know many teenagers will benefit from.

If you’d like more information about the lessons or to book me to deliver the class in your school, then you can email me at [email protected]

Filed Under: SELF LOVE & BODY IMAGE Tagged With: body confidence, body image, body image and kids, body image and teens, naked beach, Naked Beach educational toolkit, PSHE lessons

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Comments

  1. Margaret Weaver says

    July 23, 2019 at 8:22 pm

    Such powered response to a really big issue. Well done on bringing this to educational strategy. Why stop at schools? Higher education has research on this as you know.

    Reply

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Hello and welcome! I'm Molly Forbes - podcaster, presenter and blogger with a passion for positivity, confidence and body image chat. Regularly writing and vlogging about empowering female issues from a motherhood angle, I also cover lifestyle and fashion topics for like-minded mums who want to rediscover themselves after having children. Thanks for stopping by! Read More…

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If you feel bad about your body you’re less like If you feel bad about your body you’re less likely to do nice things for it, including moving in a way that feels good and eating in a way that feels good. (FYI health is about more than just exercise and nutrition, but let’s get deeper into the exercise thing for a second...)
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Research shows kids who have low body image are less likely to get involved with sports and more likely to skip PE. 
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Want kids to move more? Stop teaching them that one type of body is better than another - because if their body doesn’t look like your version of a healthy / beautiful / successful body not only will they be more likely to feel shame over their body, they’ll be less likely to engage with the very behaviours you want them to do more of (or be more likely to engage with them in an UNhealthy way - compulsive exercise is dangerous).
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Instead:
💕Try talking about the intrinsic benefits of exercise over the extrinsic ones (ie. how it makes you FEEL instead of how it makes you LOOK).
✨Create opportunities for movement where ALL children feel welcome. 
💕Show children diverse representation so they can see sporting heroes with a range of body types and know that movement is for EVERYbody. 
✨Take a zero tolerance approach to appearance based bullying, body shaming and comments that perpetuate weight stigma (including even the hint that fat = bad). 
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(If you’re a teacher or youth leader interested in knowing more about this topic, a #BodyHappyKids workshop will help - follow the link in my bio 🥰❤️)
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[Image description: A multicoloured slide with an overlaid screenshot of tweet by Molly which reads ‘If your intention is to “get kids healthy” then you need to be aware of how weight bias, weight stigma and poor body image are active barriers to health. The end.]
Sharing this outfit pic with you because it’s a Sharing this outfit pic with you because it’s a crying shame only the piles of laundry got to see it, quite frankly. Finally, a pair of pre-loved jeans bought online that are true to size, consistent with the rest of the brand’s sizing and actually fit! 🎉 
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PS heads up - I’ll be doing a Q&A about body image and kids in my Stories on Friday. The Q sticker is up in my Stories now if you’d like to submit a Q! 💕 #BodyHappyKids
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[Image description: Molly is standing in front of the mirror looking very pleased with the fact her new jeans bought from Depop fit her. She is wearing pink patterned jeans with cherubs on them, a pink check jumper and pink trainers. There are piles of laundry on the bed behind her.]
Another photo of us on a walk, because it’s been Another photo of us on a walk, because it’s been our main form of entertainment this year. Anyone else? 
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I honestly now get excited about putting my boots on and being outdoors, even in the rain. I’m going to start hugging trees next and going on wild camping weekends that involve doing a poo behind a tree and making my own fire. Joke.... maybe. 
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Just another reminder that all movement is valid, exercise doesn’t need to have to be about burning calories or even tracking steps in order for it to be “worth it”. Hope everyone’s had a great weekend ❤️
#BodyHappyMum #JoyfulMovement
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Image description: Molly and her two daughters stand on a bridge in the countryside. They are all wearing hiking boots and outdoor clothes and smiling.
My body is good and excellent and my body only bel My body is good and excellent and my body only belongs to me ✨ (Words by Effie May, age 6 💕) #BodyHappyMum
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Image description: A close up of Molly’s bare skin as she hugs herself. It’s dark and part of her body is illuminated by light. She has her eyes closed and is smiling.
“Mummy I wrote a letter to myself,” she said. “Mummy I wrote a letter to myself,” she said. And my heart swelled. Maybe I’m doing an OK job after all 🤞❤️💕 #BodyHappyKids 
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I could leave this caption here but I need to make something clear: if you think it’s great that my daughter - a thin, white, nondisabled, cisgender kid - feels good in her body but you’re not here for the self-love of any kid who doesn’t look like her.... then you’ve missed the point.
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ALL bodies are good bodies, and without this important piece of the puzzle ALL children will be at risk of doubting their body. And what happens when they doubt their body? Well... hating our body doesn’t make us treat it with love, and the same is true of kids. 
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Great, now we’ve cleared that up, can we take a moment to appreciate the incredible phonetic spelling on show here?! 
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Image description: Effie, age 6, stands against a white wardrobe holding up a letter she has written to herself. It is spelled phonetically and reads “My body is good and excellent and my body only belongs to me.”
I used to struggle to buy stuff for myself if I ha I used to struggle to buy stuff for myself if I had any spare cash - not just treats, but basics like pants and tights that fit properly. I’d tell myself I didn’t need it, didn’t deserve it, couldn’t justify the expense. There’s still that little voice (the habit of putting everyone else’s needs first and my own last dies hard it seems) but I’m leaning into exploring why it still sometimes rears its head, instead of always listening to it. 
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I’m trying to buy as much as I can from pre-loved places or small businesses these days, which is why I’m very happy to share with you some of my latest finds: a star dress from Depop (£5), earrings from @kelzojewellery by @ourtransitionallife (£12) and the comfiest tights I’ve ever owned in Raspberry Pie by @snagtights (£6.99) 💕💕💕
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Have you found any great small brands lately? Shout them out in the comments so we can all support in the run up to Christmas. ⬇️⚡️
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Image description: Molly is smiling and sticking out her tongue to the camera. Her hair is freshly dyed a light shade of pink. She’s wearing a pink t’shirt underneath a black and white star patterned slip dress, with bright pink tights and black and pink earrings decorated with a boob design.
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