Dorset mum and son publish first ever LGBT+ Guide for Primary School Children
Adults can learn from it too
Mel Lane and James Canning from Dorchester are helping young people understand the issues around gender and sexual orientation in their new book.
What Does LGBT+ Mean? - A Guide for Young People (and Grown Ups) also goes a bit further in to privilege, discrimination, ally ship and an introduction to Pride and what it means to LGBTQ+.
It is designed to help primary teachers, parents and carers introduce and educate primary aged children about LGBT+ topics.
Mel, a primary school teacher, says there is a high demand for a book like this in schools.
"There are many books written for teenagers but from what we know this is the first for primary school children. There are teachers who want to talk about these issues in schools and have those conversations with young people but they don't feel completely comfortable and they are concerned about using the wrong terminology and how to pitch it.
"So, we thought we would write a book that would be accessible, readable, colourful and engageable for young people, but also everybody, the teacher as well, clear factual information that they could share.
"There are questions, video and teaching resources so people can explore the topics but feeling confident about what they are talking about.
Our aim is to help people understand and learn a little more about what it means to be LGBT+ because you have many children have friends, family members who are LGTBQ+."
The book is aimed at upper Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 students but with it reaching over 30 schools Mel and James have had feedback from teachers and parents saying it's useful for children and students of all ages.
Even adults say they have learnt a lot from the book as well.
About “What does LGBT+ Mean? A Guide for Young People (and Grown Ups)”
Designed for use at school and home, this book explores identity, assigned sex, gender, love, sexuality, discrimination, privilege, allyship, pride and more to help open up conversations, answer questions and provide the foundations for exploring LGBT+ identities.
Mel and James co-wrote the book with Olly Pike, he explains his personal motivation for writing it: “I know first-hand that growing up LGBT+ is not easy. I felt lonely, anxious and ashamed. This book will not only help countless LGBT+ children and young people, it will also help create countless more future LGBT+ allies.
“Our aim is to revolutionise LGBT+ teaching in schools and provide educators with the tools they need to combat prejudice, whilst promoting positivity and acceptance.”
James added: “I wrote this book because it's the book I wish I'd had when I was a child. From a personal perspective, which was not that long ago, I had never had any education on the subject.
"We recognise that the earlier you can tell people that who they are and who their family and friends are is part of the normal spectrum of being human, the better it is."
The 2020 Growing Up LGBT+ Report from Just Like Us states that 48% of pupils in schools have had little to no positive messaging about being LGBT+ at school and 74% of those pupils have contemplated suicide or self-harm. Despite the recent changes to the RSE Government guidance regarding mandatory teaching about LGBT+ relationships in schools, educators still claim they have very little access to LGBT+ resources.
Mel added: “this book will revolutionise teachers' ability to talk confidently about LGBT+ to young people of all ages. It will spark discussions, build self-esteem and foster a warm, welcoming and inclusive environment in the classroom”.