James O'Brien praises this 'brilliant' teacher for educating boys about respecting girls
17 March 2021, 12:36
We don't protect kids by sheltering them, teacher tells James O'Brien
This is the moment James O'Brien praised a Year 4 teacher for being "brilliant" as she teaches boys to respect girls.
Nina from Wigan spoke to James about the topic of respect for women and girls as many women have taken to social media to reveal their personal routines for feeling safe in public, following marketing executive Sarah Everard going missing while walking home from a friend's flat on March 3.
The exchange also comes as it has been revealed that plain clothes police officers could patrol bars and nightclubs around the country as part of plans to protect women from "predatory" offenders.
Speaking of her experience as a teacher, Nina explained: "Every year we have this sort of sex and relationships education. Every year the parents say they're too young...[and ask] 'why are you teaching our kids this?'."
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However, she then said that "every year the stuff that they know shocks me".
Nina said: "The problem is that parents don't accept that their children know about it and they need to know about it."
She added: "They need to know. This is the world in which we live and you don't protect them by sheltering them because this is the world we live in."
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The teacher went on to tell James about how her class last week had an open conversation about the case of Sarah Everard.
Asked by James what she tells boys in her class, Nina said: "I said 'boys you have to understand that you have got the power to make girls feel comfortable and safe and happy. But you also have the power to frighten them and make them feel uncomfortable [and] intimidated.'"
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