Kids love David Roche

"Working with students is the most exciting, important and satisfying work that Marlena and I do." (Photo by Vince Maggiora, San Francisco Chronicle)

Watch a video clip about Love at Second Sight>

Love at Second Sight:
Appearance, Acceptance and Diversity

With simple honesty and warm humor, husband and wife David Roche and Marlena Blavin> confront head-on the issues of appearance and acceptability – concerns that deeply affect young people. Their Love at Second Sight presentation has won spontaneous standing ovations from middle and junior high school students, their teachers and parents across the United States and Canada.

For people of all ages, feelings about personal appearance shape our self-image and affect how we relate to others. Young people who are approaching or moving through puberty especially need support to survive and thrive in these vulnerable years.

(Photo by Jo Anne Smith)

David encourages everyone to ask in unison, “What happened to your face?” After satisfying their curiosity, he tells stories about his own school days that help the students relate to the experience of feeling different – like the time that 8th grade “cute girl” Patty rudely rejected him during a game of spin the bottle, the embarrassment of showing up at his first boy/girl party in full clown regalia, and what happened when he worked up the courage to ask for his first kiss (you might be surprised!). David conveys the emotional impact of experiences that brought him joy and pain, while demonstrating empathy for those who reacted to him out of fear or ignorance.

Then, Marlena speaks candidly about meeting David. When she heard David’s voice before she saw his face, she imagined him to be her tall, dark and handsome ideal man. Shocked when she actually saw him, she turned and walked away, but soon followed her heart back to him. Marlena explores her own initial confusion with openness and gentle humor. In responding to friends’ negative reactions, she models dealing with the judgments of others while not going along with the crowd.

Finally, David and Marlena invite questions, which leads to an interactive and lively discussion about differences, diversity, acceptance, compassion, teasing, bullying, peer pressure and the students' own experiences.

Length: 50 minutes (customizable)

Marlena Blavin> is the co-developer of Love at Second Sight.

• Read more about David>
• See a video clip from CNN>
  

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