Module 3: COMMUNITY

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task two

A formal debate on the statement:

"Teenagers are unfairly treated by the press"

could be arranged for the next lesson. There would need to be two speakers who agree with this statement, two who oppose it and a chair person. Each speaker should be given the same amount of time to put their points and following any contribution from the rest of the class, a vote should be taken.

task three - drama/role play alternative

Set up a scene of a bus stop with a queue of adults. Each person should decide what character he/she is going to act and why they are waiting for the bus. While they are deciding this, take two/four of the class out of hearing and tell them one of the following:-

1. They are school pupils who are tired after a hard day at school and barge into the bus ahead of others waiting.
2. They are two young people who have just heard that a relative they love very much is dying in hospital. They must get the next bus.

It is best for both scenes to be acted at the same time so that there is no 'audience'. However, if there is insufficient room in the classroom, they can be done one at a time.

Tell the class that you will let the scenes get well underway before announcing the arrival of the bus. When the scenes are complete have a discussion between the people waiting and the young people. What attitudes come out of this? What have they learnt about attitudes towards young people and what they can do about it?

There may be other clashpoints between the generations that come up in your community. These could also be acted out and discussed in the same way.

These scenes should encourage the idea that if I want to see other people change their attitudes then I should be prepared to change mine too.