Boys in the Making

 

‘Boys in the Making’

‘Ashton’

Scoil Chiaráin C.B.S.,

 

 

Scoil Chiaráin C.B.S., located in Donnycarney, Dublin 5  is an all-boys school dedicated to social and gender justice. The school launched a whole-school initiative called 'Boys in the Making' to address and dismantle gender stereotypes, gender codes, and gender processes within the educational environment.

 

In collaboration with Youth Justice Workers of Donnycarney, students, teachers, and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) and the team produced a movie titled "Ashton," developed an illustrated and graphic novel, James and Luis, and now, in its third year, the initiative continues to thrive.

 

Ashton grew from the discussion workshops and manifested as a new boy in their class. Ashton reflects the collective interests and experiences of each boy in the class, representing their lives, their hopes, their dreams, their community and above all the challenges they face. Through Ashton’s eyes, the boys were given the space to critically analyse stereotypes, we, as their families, friends and community have placed on them. Ashton, initially, reflected the interests of many boys of 8 years of age, that of a footballer! However, throughout the whole process, they were presented with different scenarios of being Ashton, and what one should do when faced with such a challenge. These ranged from hiding your favourite teddy, if your friend came to play, to what would you do if you were being picked on - would you hit back or walk away? What are boys told to do? The boys discussed Ashton’s family and the role of women in his family, all reflective of the boys’ experiences but shared in a safe way through their creation of Ashton. 

 

The success of 'Boys in the Making' is attributed to its interactive workshops, where every student engages in discussions about gender stereotypes and norms through creative mediums such as art, drama, and music. These workshops encourage boys to explore questions like:

 

• "When are boys told not to cry?"

• "When does a boy stop needing a teddy?"

• "What makes a boy tough, strong, or brave?"

• "Ah, that's just boys being boys" – what does that mean?

 

The culmination of the boys' discussions, ideas, and hard work was the creation of a short film, written, produced, and directed by Gary Whelan, of Broken Talkers Theatre Group. Gary gathered their workshop feedback on a weekly basis, and used this as inspiration for the written piece, which can be found below. 

This groundbreaking initiative, now extending its efforts to involve parents in challenging stereotypes, is unique in Ireland. Stay tuned for more developments!

 

Ashton

 

Aston. 

Tall for his age  

The tallest boy in our class by a mile. Never out of his football top. 

Cheeky. Toothy smile. 

He’s 8 and so he’s not yet showing  Any signs of rage 

That some older boys and men 

The ones who fight and fight  

Sometimes display. 

A kind and caring kind of kid  

His family, his friends, and a football. to him they're all he needs. 

Every day after school  

till dark in the park practising 

The kicks and flicks and tricks. 

That his grandad taught him. 

Living for football and Dreaming  

one day that he’ll play for PSG  

and score the winning goal in stoppage time. From an impossible 30 yard free. 

Did you hear about what happened  To Ashton in the park  

He was up there playing football  

With his friend  

on the fake grass  

Wearing his new psg top  

The one that Santa brought him 

And Ashtons practising his tricks. 

and Aston’s showing off a bit 

And then this group of boys  

who were down the other end. 

Walk over to where Ashton’s playing football with his friend. 

Aston doesn't recognize these boys, but he thinks they're acting sus. “Give us a shot of your ball” one says and then they start to push  Ashton’s friend and try to steal the ball  

And Ashton said, “here give it back.”  

And out of nowhere, this boy round Ashton’s age  

walks up and smack  

He punches Ashton full force in the face. 

Bang! A white flash like a firework goes off behind his eyes. Ashton stumbles and falls backwards. 

Walking home  

from the park  

Thump thump Thump 

His heart's pumpin’  

It’s getting dark. 

He’s covered in mud  

These eyes are red his cheek is numb  

His clothes are soaking wet  

He’s doing that weird fast breathing in thing  Children do when they're upset. 

Ashton’s not the sort of boy that’s used to bring in fights  It’s not that he’s a chicken he’s just kind of quiet and  He’s walking home and thinking  

about what he needs to do  

And because this is all new to him  

he hasn't got a clue. 

He knows that he should tell him mam and dad, But He keeps it to himself  

bottles it all up inside  

And it's not good for his health  

he lies there in his bed asleep  

Nightmares of the bully creeping  

Up to beat him up again  

And then awake. 

lying in his bed for hours  

Wishing he had superpowers  

Super speed, agility, Super strength, Invisibility  He’d sort that bully out in a flash  

And turn around and get on with the match  

And everyone would know  

Ashton’s not to be messed with. 

Skills like Spiderman Skills like Messi  and loads of friends who all do Karate. and being the best  

At football and at fighting. 

Always winning. 

Never frightened. 

In school he can’t focus on his work  

Stuck on repeat, in his mind, the beating Afraid to go up to the park just in case he meets  Those same boys again. 

He needs to tell his mam and dad  

He needs to tell his sister  

He needs to tell his cousin. 

He needs to tell his teacher. 

He needs to tell his sister’s boyfriend  

He does MMA  

He doesn’t want to tell his older brother 

He knows exactly what he’d say. 

He’d say “You need to toughen up little man and learn to  throw a punch. Hit the gym, get built like me up like me, drink  protein shakes for lunch. 

He needs someone to tell him that it's going to be alright. No, He needs someone to tell him to get back up there and fight 

But if Aston starts fighting now,  

he could end up fighting all his life. 

When he’s older - Fighting with his girlfriend, or his children or  his wife. 

Fighting might become Ashton’s answer  

to all of life's hard questions. 

To raise your voice or raise a fist just to get people’s attention. 

I think we should talk to him. 

We’re his friends 

We need to tell him he doesn’t have to keep things to himself. He needs to know there’s nothing wrong with getting help. 

He needs to know that sometimes bad things happen  and that everyone gets scared. 

Even the bullies get scared sometimes. 

They're just scared of something else.