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Talking to your class about cancer

	Whether or not a child or young person has been affected by cancer, they will likely have heard of it and may have their own ideas and beliefs about it.

These are often misguided or misinformed and are usually grounded in society’s fear of a dreaded illness. Talking about cancer with your class can be a good way to dispel some of the myths and fears that surround cancer.


	Before I would have stayed away from them (classmate with cancer), but now I would look after them.Primary school pupil

Clearly this is a subject which needs careful thought and preparation. In advance of any planned discussion of the illness you should always check if anybody in the class or their family members have been affected by cancer or other serious illness. If there are, this should not discourage you from talking about cancer. You may wish to encourage these pupil(s) to be involved in your preparation, so that they are aware of what will be said. This will also send out a message to other pupils that it is OK to talk about the illness and related issues openly.


	I was very open speaking to my pupils. I talked about gangs of rogue cells forming a tumour. They understood.Teacher

Guiding principles

Answer any questions honestly and truthfully. Don’t be afraid to say that you don’t know the answer but that you can find out together. Active listening is essential.
Talk through any concerns without being prescriptive or judgmental.
Reassure your pupils that people with cancer are not to blame if they get cancer and explain the illness from a scientific or medical perspective.
Support your pupils’ feelings. They may want to talk through their concerns with you, the school nurse, another trusted adult or the Macmillan YouthLine
Offer reassurance by explaining the chances of developing cancer positively – for example, how positive lifestyle choices can reduce the chance of developing cancer or other serious illnesses.
Inform your pupils of our youth website, www.macmillan.org.uk/whybother, where they can find useful information about cancer, Macmillan’s services, animations, and audio clips.
Download our handy DVD clips and use them to explain all about Macmillan and the work we do.

You will have achieved a great deal if you can impress the following ideas on your students:


	It is nothing you have done or said that caused cancer. You cannot catch cancer from anyone else. Some lifestyle choices reduce the chance of getting cancer (eg daily exercise), and others increase it (eg smoking) Nobody knows why some people develop cancer and others don’t. People do not always die if they get cancer, many recover fully from the illness and go on to lead normal lives. Cancer mostly affects people over the age of 65. Childhood cancer is very rare, affecting 1 in 600 children before the age of 15, and the recovery rate for childhood cancer is 70%.