Refuse to Stand Silently By

Question and answer activity based on "The Children's March [1]." (Download the Teacher's Guide [2] here.)

Objectives
• Students will identify 10 crucial global issues.
• Students will understand that although we live in an information-rich society many people are slow to act for social justice.

Materials
• One copy of the handout [3] for each student

Framework
When people are asked about doing something for social justice, they often say: “I have to find out a little more about it before I take some action.” This lesson will create an awareness that actions are important in the struggle for justice.

Step One Put students into groups of four and give each student a copy of the handout on page 9. Have them brainstorm what they believe the most crucial issues are that we face as a world today. Give them a couple to get their juices flowing: hunger, AIDS.

Step Two After they finish their lists, tell them that in the first column marked 0-5 they must come up with a number of how important the issue is, with 5 being the highest. (Obviously, the numbers will be high or it wouldn’t have made the list. Expect 4s and 5s.)
To help them get consensus, ask each student to do a show of fingers:
One finger, not important
Five fingers, very important
Add the fingers and divide by four, and they have consensus.

Step Three In the second 0-5 column, they are to write a number for how much they think they know about this topic. They live in an information-rich world where the TV news, radio and Internet offer them information constantly. Expect anywhere from 2s to 4s. After they are done, speak to the reality that they seem to know quite a bit about issues.

Step Four In the last column, they are to put a number for what they are doing about the issue. They will be mostly 0s and 1s. Some students will be active in a few causes.

Lead a conversation with students about what they can do. Offer examples, refer to the Resources [4] for ideas, of causes they can participate in immediately.

End this class with words of encouragement and hope. Here are some quotes [5] to give out and have different students read aloud to the rest of the class.

Follow-Up Activity
Have students brainstorm in small groups 10 simple social justice actions that they can take this very week. What can they do to ease the world’s sufferings? Give them some starter ideas, like the following:

• Smile and be kind to classmates that they don’t usually interact with.
• Volunteer at a local community organization.
• Bake some cookies for the elderly couple down the street from where they live.

Have them report back, either orally or through a writing assignment, attesting to what they did and how it was received or made them feel. Ask them if they will continue to do the action.