Melinda Tankard Reist and Daniel Principe - Glasshouse Christian College

Including parent presentation from 6:30pm to 7:30pm in GPAC.

Glasshouse Christian College has organised to have Melinda Tankard Reist and Daniel Principe visit the College on Monday 8 August to present a series of workshops for students, parents and even staff!

GCC parents and the community are invited to join the free parent presentation by booking here.

Here are some of the topics they will be covering:

Young Women

***‘Thin, Hot, S*xy’: Helping young women dissect negative cultural messages and rise up to make a difference***

Melinda and Daniel take students on a ‘tour’ of media and popular culture in a dynamic, multi-visual presentation. They will unpack the images, messages and ideas young people receive every day from games, music videos, advertising, marketing, social media and explicit se*ual imagery, which tell them their value and worth lies solely in their bodies and physical appearance. Students will critically evaluate how these messages contribute in harmful ways to their views of themselves, their bodies and relationships, affecting their physical, emotional and social development. Drawing from personal accounts, Melinda and Dan will then explore how young women can respond personally, including by resisting se*ual pressure, clarifying their values and enforcing their boundaries, aspiring to relationships built on respect and mutuality – and collectively – by taking action for social change and cultural transformation.

Young Men

How can boys rise above toxic messages about masculinity and become men of integrity?

Young men are bombarded with hyper-se*ualised messages and images in media and popular culture. Their lives are increasingly socialized, conditioned and informed by exposure to p*rn related content online. Boys are exposed to this content even before their first kiss, with average age of first exposure, 11. In a dynamic multi-media presentation which includes research along with first person stories of young men, Melinda and Daniel will explore with male students how exposure to se*ual imagery is contributing to a distorted view of bodies and relationships. They will propose that boys are being raised in a callous version of masculinity through these toxic messages, hampering their ability to form healthy respect based relationships. Melinda and Dan will workshop with your students what consent and healthy relationships should look like. In a po*nified cultural landscape, your young men will be encouraged to stand against the tide, resist the ‘bystander’ effect, and choose to act with integrity.

Combined workshop for seniors

After hearing from Melinda and Daniel separately, students will be brought together to workshop what they learned in the individual sessions. They are encouraged to share their respective challenges as young women and young men and to understand each other’s experiences living in a hyper-se*ualised world. The aim of this workshop is the ‘humanise’ each other, develop empathy and for the students to commit to working personally and collectively to resist harmful cultural messages and bring about the cultural change we all desperately wish to see.

Positive bodies: Primary (Yrs 5-6)

Beginning with an interactive, developmentally appropriate visual ‘tour’ of messages from social media, pop culture, fashion, music videos, games etc, Melinda and Daniel invite the children to engage with the content, helping them to understand what they are being taught about their value and worth from these images. Melinda and Daniel also helps them explore some of the pitfalls of social media and se*xualised imagery. There is time for questions and discussion throughout. Students are also shown a short video, ‘Ruby Who’. Ruby thinks she needs to be like everyone else and have all they have, then rejects this idea and accepts herself. Students are encouraged to question the values offered by pop culture and recognise their true value and worth.

Parents/community

***Navigating a se*ed-up world: How can we help our children resist harmful messages from media + pop culture and aspire to respectful relationships?***

Have you noticed that your young person seem to be growing up too fast? That they are worried about their appearance and more aware of se*ual issues at earlier stages? Children and young people are bombarded with hyperse*ualised messages from media and popular culture. Even small children are worried about their looks and physical appearance, shaped and conditioned at the earliest of ages by a dominant message that tells them they have to be ‘hot’ be liked and accepted. The lives of young people are increasingly socialised, conditioned and informed by exposure to p*rn related content online. They are exposed to this content not only before they have had s*x, but often before their first kiss, with average age of first exposure 11. Exposed to a po*nified landscape, young people are ‘acting out’ through social media and se*ting, putting their bodies on display for attention and judgement. Drawing from current global literature on the subject, as well as the experiences of young people themselves, Melinda will explore with us how the proliferation of se*ualised images and messages contributes to a distorted view of bodies, relationships and s*xuality in young people, hampering their healthy physical emotional and social development. How can we address this toxic culture and raise happy, healthy and resilient young people who value their dignity and self-worth and aspire to relationships based on respect and authentic connection? Melinda will provide practical tips and resources to help us achieve this. Daniel will also contribute to the parents session on his work especially with young men.

Bio Melinda Tankard Reist

Melinda Tankard Reist (www.melindatankardreist.com [melindatankardreist.com]) is an author, speaker, media commentator, blogger and advocate for young people. She is best known for her work addressing se*ualisation, objectification, harms of po*nography, se*ual exploitation, trafficking and violence against women. Melinda is author/editor of seven books including Getting Real: Challenging the Se*ualisation of Girls (Spinifex Press, 2009), Big P*rn Inc: Exposing the harms of the global p*rnography industry (Spinifex Press, 2011, co-edited with Dr Abigail Bray) and Pro*titution Narratives: Stories of survival in the s*x trade (Spinifex Press, co-edited with Dr Caroline Norma). A opinion writer, Melinda has appeared on ABC’s Q&A and The Gruen Sessions as well as many other TV and radio programs. Melinda is co-founder and Movement Director of the grassroots campaigning movement, Collective Shout: for a world free of s*xploitation, exposing corporations, advertisers and marketers who objectify women and se*ualise girls to sell products and services. An Ambassador for World Vision Australia, Compassion Australia, HagarNZ and the youth mentoring body the Raise Foundation, Melinda is also Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Culture and Ethics, Notre Dame University, Sydney. Melinda is named in the Who’s Who of Australian Women and the World Who’s Who of Women.

Bio: Daniel Principe

Daniel is a dynamic, passionate and natural communicator who has joined Melinda Tankard Reist in her work in schools. He is committed to helping young people navigate a p*rnified world. Daniel has a background in PR, marketing, media, and as a health professional in the non-profit health sector. He recognises the urgent need to help equip young people with the tools necessary to understand the impacts of harmful messaging from media, advertising, pop culture, limited and harmful stereotypes about masculinity, and the global p*rn industry. Daniel is committed to helping young men especially understand how these cultural forces give them distorted ideas about bodies, relationships and se*uality, and fuel inappropriate behaviours. Daniel encourages our boys to ‘be their best selves’ by rejecting these harmful cultural forces and aspiring to something far better for their lives.

‘Growing Up in P*rnland: Girls Have Had It With P*rn Conditioned Boys’, MTR, ABC Religion & Ethics, https://www.abc.net.au/religion/growing-up-in-pornland-girls-have-had-it-with-porn-conditioned-b/10097244 [apac01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com]

‘Why “consent” doesn’t stand a chance against p*rn culture’, MTR, ABC Religion & Ethics, https://www.abc.net.au/religion/consent-education-does-not-stand-a-chance-against-pornography/13231364 [apac01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com]

‘When 5 year olds create p*rn themed images – in class’, MTR, Australian Childhood Foundation, https://professionals.childhood.org.au/prosody/2016/07/melinda-tankard-reist/ [apac01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com]

‘I’ve heard it firsthand: Kambala petition just the tip of the iceberg’, Daniel Principe, Eternity News, https://melindatankardreist.com/2021/02/ive-heard-it-first-hand-kambala-petition-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/ [apac01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com]

‘P*rn use soars in pandemic, prompting fears for young viewers’, https://au.news.yahoo.com/porn-use-soars-in-pandemic-prompting-fears-for-young-viewers-075120047.html [au.news.yahoo.com]

‘The virtual death of nurture’, Melinda Tankard Reist, CASE Journal, New College, University of NSW, 2021, https://melindatankardreist.com/2022/04/the-eroticising-of-child-sexual-abuse-and-exploitation-is-happening-in-plain-sight-mtr-essay-on-on-line-harms-to-young-people-in-case-quarterly/ [melindatankardreist.com]