Spatial Requirements: Regular classroom setup; little or no space required
Activity Type: Group
Grades: 5-12
Group Size: 6 or more
Time: 20 minutes
Introduction:
Part of Street Resilience is being empathetic and aware of the struggles of other groups. The purpose of this activity is to promote that empathy in students and instill in them a desire to clarify misconceptions about discriminated or stereotyped groups in the community.
Materials:
- Several slips of paper
- 1 container to hold the slips of paper
- 1 poster board per group of 3 or 4
- Markers
Activity:
Ask students to list groups in the community who may experience discrimination. This list may include the elderly, women, immigrants, racial minorities, religious groups, people with mental or physical disabilities, or others.
As students list these groups, write them on slips of paper and put the slips of paper in the container. You may choose to exclude a few of the groups for sensitivity reasons. When you’ve added all the papers to the container, divide the class into small teams of 3 or 4 and have each team draw out a slip of paper.
Tell the class that their job is to discuss as a team all the reasons that the discrimination experienced by the group on their slip of paper is unfair or incorrect. Give each team a poster board and markers, and have them work on an ad campaign that will promote a positive representation of the discriminated group. Make sure students know to be sensitive in the language they use and any illustrations they include in their campaign. If a member of the discriminated group were present, they should feel comfortable with the way they’re being represented.
Give students time to complete their posters, then have each team present its ad campaign to the class.
Processing the Experience:
- How did we use Street Resilience to complete this activity?
- Have you or someone you know ever experienced discrimination? How does it feel?
- How does it feel to be represented in a positive way?
- Why is discrimination unfair and inaccurate?