To mark the new academic year, the BBFC has launched a new, free PSHE resource for secondary school learners.

Making Choices: Sex, Relationships and BBFC Age Ratings has been designed in partnership with the PSHE Association, and has been awarded the ‘Quality Mark’. 

Drawing from the existing BBFC Key Stage 2 resource, and wider BBFC research and expertise, the new pack includes three lesson plans, a comprehensive teaching guide and extension activities. Learners will explore a variety of topics including:

• Representations of sex and relationships in films on and offline

• Decision making and peer influence

• How and why age ratings are given to films and other content

• How the BBFC reflect public and teenager views when making those decisions

The resource also incorporates advice on how to identify and tackle sensitive or harmful content, and informs young people about key BBFC resources to help them navigate media. 

Lucy Brett, Head of Education at the BBFC, said: “As technology and social media influence has advanced in recent years, parents and teachers have become more aware of the need to help young people choose, understand, and assess the media they consume. This resource will tackle a variety of issues that students experience upon making the crucial move from primary to secondary school and allow them to be more aware of both the benefits and issues associated with utilising the online world.”

Jenny Fox, PSHE Association Subject Specialist, said: “We are delighted to award the Quality Mark to this resource, which powerfully draws together media literacy with relationships and sex education. Young people are growing up in a world surrounded by technology and receive constant messages about relationships and sex through the media. These lessons will help key stage 3 students to reflect on the expectations they may have about relationships, and how these expectations are influenced by representations of relationships in film and online. 

Students will have the opportunity to discuss relevant scenarios, rehearse the skills of decision making and managing peer influence, and understand how age ratings can influence safer choices around the media they consume.”

Lucy Brett added: “We hope that by using this resource, teachers can feel confident that they are helping their pupils engage with media conscientiously and watching content that is appropriate for them, and that this in turn will be reassuring for parents.”

Download the free PSHE secondary resource from the BBFC website