This session was arranged for our year 10 students as it is linked with
the unit ‘Matters of Life and Death’ which they study at GCSE. Not only does it
help with their studies but the topics covered by our guest speaker Elizabeth
Parson from Life Charity are ones from a controversial nature that raise
questions about the quality of life and how do we all value life. Some of the
areas the Elizabeth covered in her talk were
- What makes a human being?
- Abortion for disability/fertilisation/DNA
- Liz sharing personal
experiences
- Screening during pregnancy and
the option to have termination is this right or wrong?
- Rights to improve life
- Team Hoyt and the quality of
life
- Written off by society E.g. Nick Vujicic/other case studies
Elizabeth’s talk evoked
some questions from students and allowed them to learn about these topics in a
different environment with powerful clips.
There was also a session put
together for students to take these topics further by considering how life is
special. Students worked in groups and were asked to put a price on life in
comparison to the price of an abortion. They considered issues that are going
on in the media such an Asian baby found in a drain pipe that survived, is
human life that disposable? We also looked the BBC News clips about ‘MPs say
yes to three-person babies’. Students were able to ‘design their own babies’
and this allowed them to consider how people can be born with disabilities or
issues that we might not necessarily plan for however reinforcing that each and
every life had value and worth as linked with the declaration of human rights.
The students responded very respectfully to these delicate and sensitive issues
with tolerance and understanding. Students showed a
responsible attitude when met with mature topics. Students contributed to
questions and answers/discussions and it was brilliant to see how students
could relate to the topics covered through prior knowledge gained through their
RE lessons. They showed this throughout the talk when answering
questions. This was an enriching experience valued by all who took part.
