Colours of the Rainbow
We live in a time in which images - and in particular digital images - have a huge impact on society and our daily lives. Many of us are online from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep. We see the world around us through the screen. Reality is perceived through pixels instead of real encounters. We meet our friends on social networks and have our conversations through instant messaging and mobiles, reality and ‘virtuality’ vying for our attention and time. We spend more and more time with our mobile phone and sitting behind our laptop than being in physical contact with others. The world of Big Brother has become reality: we are online 24/7 to share all our activities, emotions and dreams.
Who we are, what we do and what we think can be read, seen and heard somewhere on the World Wide Web. We all are no longer just passive receivers, but transmitters and broadcasters. We send our photos, home movies and texts into the world to friends all over the globe. We are seen, heard and followed by acquaintances and total strangers and make friends with one click of a button. We are more and more influenced by images on screen. That is why it is so important that those images neither stereotype, nor differ from reality.
The images in the RAINBOW project reflect a range of real portrayals of LGBT issues. They show real people with real emotions - feelings such as desire, doubts, dreams, uncertainty, falling in love, friendship and identity, like the colours of the rainbow.
Talking about sexual diversity in education is not a routine activity, yet most children and youngsters are aware of differences between boys and girls, as well as their own sexual development. Parents are usually the first to deal with this subject, but schools do have their own responsibility and opportunities. Each school has to offer a safe zone in which children and young people can develop as themselves as far as possible in order to explore their own potential.
Being who you are is a precondition of self-growth and development. Schools and teachers can use this RAINBOW project to talk, reflect and create a safe area in which everybody feels free to participate and can develop their own “colour”.