Lesson 8 (K-4): Take a stand
Objectives: To help students develop skills to enable them to confront teasing. To help students develop skills of working in teams to establish group norms.
Procedure
Distribute the excerpt "Words can hurt too". Explain to students that this is how Chamroeun talks about his experiences being teased. Ask students if they have ever been teased before. Ask students to volunteer examples of the teasing and how it made them feel.
Ask students if anyone in the class has ever stopped someone from being teased. If they were the targets of teasing, did they challenge it themselves. Ask students to think about why people tease others.
Ask students what they would do if they heard one of their friends being teased. Ask what they would do if they heard someone who wasn't their friend being teased? Would they respond in the same way?
Ask students what they would do if they heard one of their friends teasing someone else. Would they try and stop them? Would they join in? Would they listen in silence?
Ask students if certain kinds of teasing is worse than others. (Some students may feel that racial taunting, for example, may be worse than other kinds of teasing). Ask students who feel that there are different "levels" of teasing to explain why they think so.
Finally, explain to students that they will be working together in teams to come up with a policy around the issue of teasing for the school. Explain that in "legal" terms, teasing can be called "verbal harassment." Explain that they will be getting a worksheet with a description of events that really happened to Chamroeun in the past when he went to schools to perform. Explain that these things don't always happen in every school, but that all the things described in the story have happened to him at some point.
- Break students into groups of four or five.
- Distribute the worksheet entitled "Take a stand."
After students have developed their plan, have them present their plan to the class. (Teachers can either do this exercise as a "one day" activity, or may choose to pull it out and have students develop full presentations, with the class collectively deciding on the "best plan." This may involve incorporating elements of several groups' plans. Finally, students may wish to present their plan to the school council itself for consideration for adoption!)
