This article describes the genesis, development and evaluation of Media Relate, a project and teaching pack about media images of sex and relationships for use in school sex and relationship education and citizenship curricula, with young people aged 12-15. Media Relate was based on the findings of an earlier research project into young people's views on media portrayals of sex and relationships, key aspects of which are summarised here, including the young people's views on school sex education. The article goes on to contrast approaches to the media within existing sex education materials and in established programmes of media education. In particular, it discusses the pedagogy of open-ended practical and experiential work in media education, and how this informed both the methodology of the earlier research and the teaching approaches developed within the Media Relate materials. The article explains the content of the Media Relate teaching materials and explores findings from the piloting carried out in various schools. It argues for greater attention to the media as a resource and object of critical reflection and analysis in schools. (Contains 3 figures and 1 note.)