Sách Contentious Issues - Discussion Stories for Young People

Contents
ABOUT THE BOOK 9 LEADERS' NOTES 11
Section 1 13
Introduction 15 Summary of Contents 15
Story 1: Joshua’s Birthday Present 16
Discussion Sheet:Joshua’s Birthday Present 17 Leader Sheet 1: Joshua’s Birthday Present 19
Story 2: Not So Sweet Revenge 21
Discussion Sheet 2: Not So Sweet Revenge 22 Leader Sheet 2: Not So Sweet Revenge 24
Story 3: Goodbye Shaun 27
Discussion Sheet 3: Goodbye Shaun 28 Leader Sheet 3: Goodbye Shaun 30
Story 4: Extortion! 35
Discussion Sheet 4: Extortion! 36 Leader Sheet 4: Extortion! 38
Story 5: ’Atch Out!! 41
Discussion Sheet 5: 'Atch Out!! 42 Leader Sheet 5: ’Atch Out!! 44
Story 6: Science Test! 48
Discussion Sheet 6: Science Test! 49 Leader Sheet 6: Science Test! 51
Story 7: Hoi Ping Is Unhappy 54
Discussion Sheet 7: Hoi Ping Is Unhappy 55 Leader Sheet 7: Hoi Ping Is Unhappy 57
Story 8: It Happened One Day 60
Discussion Sheet 8: It Happened One Day 62 Leader Sheet 8: It Happened One Day 64
Story 9: Preeti’s Lost Bracelet 68
Discussion Sheet 9: Preeti’s Lost Bracelet 69 Leader Sheet 9: Preeti’s Lost Bracelet 71
Story 10: Just One Last Game 74
Discussion Sheet 10: Just One Last Game 75 Leader Sheet 10:Just One Last Game 77
Story 11: A Better Class of People 81
Discussion Sheet 11: A Better Class of People 82 Leader Sheet Sheet 11: A Better Class of People 84
Story 12: Slag! 92
Discussion Sheet 12: Slag! 94 Leader Sheet 12: Slag! 95
Section 2
Introduction 103 Summary of Contents 103
Story 13: We Were Only Playing 104
Discussion Sheet 13: We Were Only Playing 105 Leader Sheet 13: We Were Only Playing 107
Story 14: Chicken! 114
Discussion Sheet 14: Chicken! 115 Leader Sheet 14: Chicken! 117
Story 15: Honesty Policy 120
Discussion Sheet 15: Honesty Policy 122 Leader Sheet 15: Honesty Policy 124
Story 16: Painful Puberty 129
Discussion Sheet 16: Painful Puberty 130 Leader Sheet 16: Painful Puberty 132
Story 17: Nightmare 136
Discussion Sheet 17:Nightmare 137 Leader Sheet 17: Nightmare 139
Story 18: I Fell Down the Stairs 143
Discussion Sheet 18: I Fell Down the Stairs 144 Leader Sheet 18: I Fell Down the Stairs 146
Story 19: I Don’t Remember 151
Discussion Sheet 19: I Don’t Remember 152 Leader Sheet 19: I Don’t Remember 154
Story 20: Joyrider 159
Discussion Sheet 20: Joyrider 160 Leader Sheet 20:Joyrider 162


Story 21: I Never Have Any Nice Clothes 165
Discussion Sheet 21: I Never Have Any Nice Clothes 166 Leader Sheet 21: I Never Have Any Nice Clothes 168
Story 22: Shoplifter 173
Discussion Sheet 22: Shoplifter 174 Leader Sheet 22: Shoplifter 176
Story 23: My Mum’s Not Well 180
Discussion 23: My Mum’ s Not Well 181 Leader Sheet 23: My Mum’ s Not Well 183
Story 24: I’m a Person Too 187
Discussion Sheet 24: I’m a Person Too 189 Leader Sheet 24: I m a Person Too 191
Section 3 195
Introduction 197 Summary of Contents 197
Story 25: No Thanks, I’m Not Hungry 198
Discussion Sheet 25: No Thanks, I’m Not Hungry 200 Leader Sheet 25: No Thanks, I’m Not Hungry 201
Story 26: I’m So Tired 207
Discussion Sheet 26: I’m So Tired 208 Leader Sheet 26: I’m So Tired 210
Story 27: Hands Off! 215
Discussion Sheet 27: Hands Off! 216 Leader Sheet 27: Hands Off! 218
Story 28: He Was My Boyfriend! 224
Discussion Sheet 28: He Was My Boyfriend! 225 Leader Sheet 28: He Was My Boyfriend! 227
Story 29: SIDA 231
Discussion Sheet 29: SIDA 232 Leader Sheet 29: SIDA 234
Story 30: 2052 AD 239
Discussion Sheet 30: 2052 AD 240 Leader Sheet 30: 2052 AD 242
Story 31: The Party 247
Discussion Sheet 31: The Party 248 Leader Sheet 31: The Party 250
Story 32: Tina’s Decision 258
Discussion Sheet 32: Tina’s Decision 259 Leader Sheet 32: Tina’s Decision 261


Story 33: No!! 266
Discussion Sheet 33: No!! 267 Leader Sheet 33: No!! 269
Story 34: TO LEAD BAGGY? 274
Discussion Sheet 34: TO LEAD BAGGY? 275 Leader Sheet 34: TO LEAD BAGGY? 277
Story 35: Perspective 280
Discussion Sheet 35: Perspective 281 Leader Sheet 35: Perspective 283
Section 4 289
Introduction 291 Summary of Contents 291
Story 36: Next Time? 292
Discussion Sheet 36: Next Time? 293 Leader Sheet 36: Next Time? 295
Exercise: Bereavement 299
Leader Sheet: Exercise on Bereavement 301
Story 37: Escape! 305
Discussion Sheet 37: Escape! 306 Leader Sheet 37: Escape! 308
Exercise: Decision-making - Ending a Relationship 314
Penny s Relationship Chart 316 Leader Sheet: Suggested Scoring for Penny s Relationship Chart 317 Leader Sheet: Exercise on Decision-Making - Ending a Relationship 318
Story 38: Marriage 321
Discussion Sheet 38: Marriage 322 Leader Sheet 38: Marriage 324
Story 39: Trudy’s Baby 330
Discussion Sheet 39: Trudy s Baby 334 Leader Sheet 39: Trudy s Baby 336
Story 40: The Last Straw 341
Discussion Sheet 40: The Last Straw 343 Leader Sheet 40: The Last Straw 345
APPENDIX: USEFUL CONTACTS 353 INDEX OF SUBJECT AREAS 363


About the Book
Contentious Issues is a collection of short stories and exercises written to promote discussion and awareness among young people aged between eleven and eighteen, for use by professionals and parents or guardians. Contentious Issues challenges young people to consider events and the part they themselves play in life, encouraging deeper thinking and awareness of how their behaviour can negatively affect others, producing more responsible and independently thinking young adults.
The book allows moral viewpoints to be expressed in the security of discus­sion of a fictional event so that participants do not feel threatened or intimi­dated by being presented with a problem taken directly from their own lives.
The book is intended to foster:
ã feelings of moral obligations
ã understanding of positive social behaviour
ã understanding of the consequences of negative social behaviour
ã understanding that there are not always single ‘right’ answers
ã awareness of how to approach problems in life and how to carefully consider the options open to oneself
ã feelings of responsibility for one’s actions and inactions
ã awareness of where to go for help when one is out of one’s depth
ã acceptance that it is not a sign of failure to admit to needing help
a true understanding of what maturity is, rather than a misguided belief
ã that it is shown by unyielding, uncompromising behaviour
ã understanding of human nature and how people feel about things that have happened to them
ã awareness of the opinions of other people one is in session with
ã an open mind that is prepared to listen to all points of view before finally being made up


ã an open mind that is prepared to change opinions in the light of new information or understanding of what’s involved
ã a caring for oneself and for others.
Although the stories were written with group work in mind, it is possible to use these stories one-to-one.
The stories represent current comprehensive school life in a multi-ethnic environment and focus on the concerns of the children (aged 11 to 18). The stories are designed to challenge racism and sexism (and many other stereo­typed assumptions). Although only three of the stories (stories 11,27 and 33) deal specifically with race and gender issues, the characters come from a variety of cultural backgrounds. White and black children, for example, are equally in trouble, both displaying negative behaviour and suffering emotional difficul­ties, as are boys and girls.
This material enables students to think deeply about themselves and their attitudes and encourages them to modify any anti-social behaviour they may have. It also encourages those who need help to ask for it.
Sections 1-3 are concerned with a multitude of issues that affect young people generally, such as bullying (in its many and varied forms), criminal acts, addic­tions, health issues, questions of right and wrong.
Section 4 contains tasks as well as stories and has a single general theme - that of relationships, feelings and the inner person. Issues such as suicide, terminal illness, bereavement, marriage, teenage pregnancy, controlling rela­tionships and decision-making are explored. These sessions are suitable for young people up to the age of 18. It is possible to use them for under 16-year-olds, if the material has direct relevance to the group.



Leaders’ Notes
About one hour is needed to use each section of material productively. This, of course, can vary either way, depending on the ability and interests of the young people concerned.
The Leader should take a supervisory role, guiding participants back to the salient issues when side-tracked and making sure that time is spread over the whole of the material. However, if a special interest is sparked this can be returned to at the end of the session or on a subsequent occasion.
Time permitting, more in-depth thought may be provoked if the partici­pants are in small groups - it is more likely that each will make a contribution in a smaller group and the quality of discussions may be better as their concentra­tion may be more intense. However, if the whole group is small enough not to warrant sub-groups, time is saved by not needing to bring the findings together at the end.
Discussing emotive and contentious issues through stories takes the spot­light off those who may feel threatened by issues directly relating to themselves. Also, any decisions about appropriate and inappropriate behaviour are made not by someone in authority but by others in their own peer group, allowing participants to view a situation with objectivity and without the resentment of being dictated to.
The Leader is not expected to present the answers - possible solutions to problems should come from the participants themselves, developing their sense of the world and what is right and wrong. Also, to many of the questions posed there is not just one right answer. It depends on the circumstances and the per­sonalities involved and the backgrounds of the individuals.
The Leader must be sensitive to the participants but not to the point of agreeing with everything they say. The suggested answers should be used by the Leader to challenge viewpoints (to allow the participants to reach a deeper understanding) or to spark off further discussion about the situation and offer tentative suggestions when the participants have run out of ideas.
A good working relationship between the Leader and the participants is essential.
Contact details have been provided for help or further information - either for the Leader or for the participants themselves.
The Leader Sheets are intended for Leader use only. Please note that any sta­tistics or factual details refer to the UK only. If you are working in another country you may have to amend the answers suggested in the book (for example, the legal limit for driving under the influence of alcohol varies from country to country and in some is banned altogether). Also, the contact details given in the appendix are for UK readers only, although the websites can be accessed from all over the world.
Note
All Stories and Discussion Sheets are photocopiable by the person or persons within the institution that bought the book, as is the Appendix of Useful Contacts. The Leader Sheets are for Leader use only and may not be photocop­ied.


Section 1
Introduction
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ection 1 is concerned with issues relevant to 11- to 14-year-olds. Stories 1-5 are interconnected with a developing theme and should be read in order, although each story is complete in itself. The rest of the stories in Section 1 can be read in any order. Some of the characters in the stories also appear in later sections.
Summary of contents
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[TD]Story
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[TD]Title
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[TD]Subject
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[TD]1
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[TD]Joshua’s Birthday Present*
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[TD]Carrying a knife, ‘grassing’
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[TD]2
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[TD]Not So Sweet Revenge*
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[TD]Revenge
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[TD]3
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[TD]Goodbye Shaun*
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[TD]Solvent abuse
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[TD]4
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[TD]Extortion!*
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[TD]Extortion
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[TR]
[TD]5
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[TD]’Atch Out!!*
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[TD]Bereavement, disability
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[/TR]
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[TD]6
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[TD]Science Test!
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[TD]Cheating, pressure from parents
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[TD]7
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[TD]Hoi Ping Is Unhappy
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[TD]Communication with parents
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[TR]
[TD]8
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[TD]It Happened One Day
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[TD]Phobias and panic attacks
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[TD]9
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[TD]Preeti’s Lost Bracelet
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[TD]Stealing
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[TD]10
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[TD]Just One Last Game
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[TD]Computer games addiction
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[TD]11
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[TD]A Better Class of People
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[TD]Racism
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[TD]12
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[TD]Slag!
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[TD]Divorce/separation
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[TD="colspan: 3"]*Titles in succession are interconnected and should be read in order.
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Story 1:Joshua s Birthday Present
Shaun, Hoi Ping and Rajesh were admiring Joshua's birthday present in the schoolyard before school. It was a penknife, but no ordinary one.
‘Look,' Joshua told them, opening it out, ‘it's a tin opener too. And it's got a corkscrew and a screwdriver end here,' he said, pointing to each special part in turn. ‘This is one of the best you can get,' he informed them proudly. His father had told him that morning that it was a very good quality penknife and if he looked after it, it should last him for all his life. It was the best present he'd had.
Shaun looked at the knife with envy. Why wasn't he ever given something like that? He wished he'd got one.
Thinking about it in class, Shaun suddenly remembered it was against the school rules to bring a knife to school. That'll teach him, Shaun thought meanly, if it gets confiscated.
During registration after lunch, Mrs Price, their form teacher, called Joshua up to her desk. She quietly asked him about the penknife. Shaun busied himself with sorting out his books for the next lesson and pretended not to see.
Joshua went back to his bag to get the penknife to hand it over to Mrs Price. She told him she was going to phone his father. The whole class was watching him and he felt very embarrassed. His face felt as though it was on fire.
He'd only brought in his knife to show his friends. He now wished his dad had never given him the thing. He'd been told not to take it to school, but he thought that just this once it wouldn't matter. His dad would be furious.
On his way home he puzzled over how Mrs Price had got to know about the knife. No one had seen it apart from Shaun, Hoi Ping and Rajesh. And they wouldn't have told because they were friends!
The next day, Rajesh and Hoi Ping hurried over to Joshua as soon as he arrived. Joshua told them his dad had hit the roof because he'd had to go to school to pick up the knife. It had made him look like he was irresponsible giving such a present to his son and he was angry because it had made him look foolish.
Rajesh told him that he knew who had told Mrs Price. His sister, Sangita, had seen Shaun go into Mrs Price’s room at lunchtime. So it had been Shaun who had told on him! Joshua couldn’t believe it at first. Why had he done it?
Then Shaun arrived and, as he approached, his smile faded because they were all looking at him as though he had some kind of disease. He knew they’d found out. He’d wished he hadn’t done it almost as soon as he’d come out of Mrs Price’s room, but it was too late then.
‘Why?’ Joshua asked him.
‘It was against the school rules,’ Shaun replied. ‘You shouldn’t have brought it in.’
‘He shouldn’t have,’ agreed Hoi Ping. ‘But that’s not really why you told was
it?’
‘He was jealous!’ Rajesh exclaimed.
‘I’m sorry,’ Shaun told Joshua.
‘I’m sorry too,’ Joshua said. ‘I’m sorry I brought it in. I know it was wrong but I didn’t think it would matter, just the once. And I thought you were my friend. Friends don’t tell.’
Discussion Sheet 1:Joshua*s Birthday Present
1. (a) Why is it a school rule not to bring knives of any kind
to school?
(b) Is it a sensible rule?
2. How did Shaun feel after telling Mrs Price about the knife?
3. Have you ever done anything that you’ve later regretted?
4. Was it fair of the other pupils to ignore Shaun because he’d ‘grassed’?
5. Was there a better way of letting Joshua know that he shouldn’t have brought the knife to school?
6. There is an unwritten law that pupils shouldn’t ‘grass’ on each other. Can you think of times when it is OK (or even advisable) to break that law?
7. How would you feel if your best friend ‘grassed’ on you? Would you try to understand why or would you stop being friends?
8. People make mistakes in relationships - right from childhood through to adulthood. Can your friendships survive misunderstandings or hurts, or do they break up at the first sign of trouble?
9. If someone wants to say sorry do you try to help out? Or do you make it hard for the person, to make him or her suffer?
10. What happens when your parents or guardians fall out? Do you copy their way of solving problems, or have you developed your own way of dealing with a hurtful friendship?


Leader Sheet 1: Joshua’s Birthday Present
1. (a) Why is it a school rule not to bring knives of any
kind to school?
ã To protect pupils from potential harm.
ã To protect staff and the general public. Even if the person bringing the knife to school does not intend any harm, it could be stolen from that person and then used by someone else.
ã To protect the school from possible vandalism.
ã Because it is an offence to carry sharp objects that can be used as weapons.
(b) Is it a sensible rule?
Yes, it is a sensible rule. It is for the good of everyone.
2. How did Shaun feel after telling Mrs Price about the knife?
ã Guilty.
ã Scared (of being found out).
ã Ashamed.
ã Self-hating.
ã He wished he could turn the clock back or undo what he had just done.
3. Have you ever done anything that you've later regretted?
(Personal response required.)
4. Was it fair of the other pupils to ignore Shaun because he'd 'grassed'?
Yes: People feel very strongly about being ‘grassed' on. Human nature would make them want to punish Shaun - and as he grassed because of jealousy and not because he thought anyone was in danger, his friends thought he deserved their treatment. He had broken his peers' ‘social rules' and so was being excluded.