Films / Discussions / Activities
How to be a boy

For children ages 10-15 

The programme will be conducted with a selected group of 30 children (all genders) who will be taken through all the sessions, to build an incremental understanding of the diverse meanings and experiences of being a boy. 

Some of the proposed ideas for the sessions are: 

• Physical representation - to focus on the body, clothing, stereotypes and conformity  
• Inner worlds & emotional expressions - to talk about feelings and fears, and how to express them 
• Class and gender – to explore the pressures and performance of gender across socio-economic contexts  
• Sexuality – to understand the self and others along with ideas of consent 
• Violence – to unpack bullying, gangs, ideas of security, protection and belonging 

The films will be viewed in advance, and the discussion and activity sessions will be held online. Each session will begin with a conversation on the film and the sharing of responses. This will lead to an interactive discussion on the particular idea of the session, culminating in a creative activity. Activities will emphasise self-expression by the participating children and include a variety of writing and visual art exercises, from writing a letter to a boy in the future (this could be the self or an other) to creating a portrait through collage. The activities will be conducted in a hybrid mode, with offline time given to create the work. Break-out rooms will also be used as needed. The activities will be designed to allow children of all genders to engage from their perspective so that the programme creates room for multiple voices and a collective construction of knowledge and understanding. 

The online sessions will be recorded, and the children’s work documented to allow for future dissemination possibilities either as video or in the form of an exhibition.

Samina Mishra

© Yeshu Yuvraj Samina Mishra is a documentary filmmaker, writer, and teacher based in New Delhi. Her work uses the lens of childhood, identity and education to reflect the experiences of growing up in India. Her recent work includes Jamlo Walks, a picture book that tells a story of the migrants walking back home during the lockdown last year, and Happiness Class, a documentary that explores the idea of happiness seen through the Happiness Curriculum project in the Delhi government schools. She also runs The Magic Key Centre for the Arts and Childhood, a virtual resource centre for children as well as adults working with and for children.