• Butchers paper
• Markers

1. Break into groups or pairs

2. Give each group one sheet of butchers paper, and a marker
Ask participants to draw 3 columns on their butchers paper

3. Brainstorm

🗣️ ASK:
“What words would you use to talk about sex when you talk to your friends, your parents/carers, or a teacher/nurse/professional”?

- Prompt participants to think about how they might describe bodies / body parts, different types of sex, how they would describe people who have sex or people we are attracted to.

- Participants should include words that they actually use (in any language) and can include ‘made up’ words / slang

- Ask them to write down their words in the relevant columns (one word can be used in multiple columns)

- Give group time to brainstorm - approximately 5 - 10 mins

4. Discuss back in the big group

On the whiteboard, or on another piece of butchers paper, draw a spectrum from left to right, with three labels:

“ALTERNATIVE WORDS”
“DEPENDS ON CONTEXT”
“OK”

So that it looks something like this:
< ———————————————————————————————————————————→
“ALTERNATIVE WORDS” ............... “DEPENDS ON CONTEXT” ................. “OK”

🗣️ ASK:
“Let’s go through your words, and sort out whether it's OK to use them in this class”

Go through each of the words that participants have written on their butchers paper, and facilitate a conversation to see if they think the word is OK to use, if it DEPENDS ON CONTEXT, or if we should find ALTERNATIVE WORDS

If there is consensus, write out the word into the relevant column.

If there is no consensus on a particular word, some useful prompts can include:

• “Why do we disagree on this word?”
• “Are we considering the views of minority or marginalised groups and listening to their perspectives with care?”
• “Is this word gender neutral? Does this matter?"
• “Does this word objectify or demean anyone?”
• “Is this word violent or aggressive? Why might this matter?”
• "What new words and phrases do we need? What might these look or sound like?”

This activity was adapted from the activity ‘Sex talk’, from:Hoyle, A. & McGeeney, E. (2020). Great Relationships and Sex Education: 200+ Activities for Educators Working with Young People. Routledge. p25