3 Years Later

Yesterday, I went with my social work intern on a home visit, which was part if her learning goals. It was an informational home visit where we sought the opinions of the parent about the program, program topics, and her daughter’s transition to high school. It was a great visit.

Emma* has been in my program for the last three years. I have been fortunate to be able to see her grow into a compassionate leader and bright young woman. What was particularly meaningful to me was at the end of the visit. Emma went to her room to grab things we had done over the years in Jump Start.

One of my rules I share with my girls (especially after an activity) is: I don’t want to see you throw out what you have worked on. If you don’t want to keep it, then you can throw it out later when I’m not around. So when Emma began showing me her Superwoman drawing from her 6th grade year, her scrapbooking and “I am” poem from 7th grade, and her roadmap from this year, I was surprised. As I say, my heart began to smile.

So often program managers create activities and projects for our youth and they end up just throwing it out. When you have spent a couple hours planning an activity, that’s the last thing that you want. Also, at times I often wonder how much my program’s two hours once a week means to the girls. How much is it really impacting them? Seeing that Emma kept all her projects for the last three years was encouraging to say the least. Those little activities meant enough to her that she kept them. She even put some of them on her bedroom door.

When I have doubts again about the impact of my program or that one hour activity about goal setting, I will remember how Emma kept her things from Jump Start. If it impacts just one girl, then its all worth it!

*Name of the participant has been changed.

Self Esteem Songs

Self esteem is always a topic that seems difficult to discuss in an interactive and fun way. I have tried covering this topic in a variety of ways from discussion to creating art to music. In my experience, I have found that discussion only activities tend to fall flat. But using a discussion as a tool to extract lived experiences and to discuss new information is effective.

I have found music to be one of the more successful ways to introduce a topic, especially like self esteem. Using a code, like music, is a fundamental principle in popular education. (See my We’re a Culture, Not a Costume post for more information about popular education.)  Here are some of my top picks for self esteem music videos to be used as codes.

What are your favorite songs about self esteem? Let’s add them to the collection! Leave a comment at the bottom of the post.

We’re a Culture, Not a Costume

The internet has been buzzing about a poster campaign from a student organization called Students Teaching Against Racism (STARS) at Ohio University. Their campaign is called, “We’re a Culture, Not a Costume” and is more than appropriately timed for Halloween this weekend.

This week, I will be using these posters as a code to begin a discussion with the girls in my program. Here’s an example lesson plan of how you can use these posters to start a dialogue with your students about: prejudice, generalizations, stereotypes, and how racism isn’t always obvious. The lesson plan is developed with a popular education lens by: (1) drawing out existing knowledge, (2) add/discover new information, (3) develop new analysis, and (4) plan action.

Since this is a topic that can be sensitive, make sure you go over your group rules, expectations, values, etcetera before you start the activity. Share with them that it may be uncomfortable to talk about the subject, but the group is there to support each other and to grow. You’re group values should encompass respect (like not using put downs, racial slurs, etc.). Remind them that we are trying to learn so if you aren’t sure how to say something ask for help. As youth development professionals we want to push them to the learning edge, but not all the way over the edge.

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(1) Start the activity by showing the posters (10-15 minutes)

• What do you think of these posters?
• What message are they trying to share?
• Can you relate to these posters?
• Are these images fair representations of people’s culture?
• How do you think these costumes make people feel?

Start with open-ended questions, which will help create more discussion. Then begin directing the discussion with the last three questions. With these last three questions, the youth should begin sharing their own opinions and experiences.

 

(2) Introduce new information and break youth into groups to discuss (10-15 minutes)

• Break youth into groups of 3 to 4 (this can be modified depending on your group size)
• After the youth have shared their experiences and opinions, introduce new information
• Give additional images/codes about racial stereotypes like blackface minstrel, Birth of a Nation, and Nazi propaganda during WWII. (Make sure that it is age appropriate so you may have to get creative especially when working with younger youth, like elementary schoolers.)

(3) Develop new analysis and create stereotype drawings (1 hour)

 

• Have the group analyze the new image and find connections to the posters the saw at the beginning.
• Let the groups discuss for about 15 minutes depending on the age of your youth and attention span.
• Check in with groups while they are discussing and ask them probing questions. 
• Have the groups report back to the whole group about what they discussed.

• Ask youth what they think a stereotype is. Explain further if necessary.
• For this next activity, the youth will create a stereotype drawing of themselves.
• Show an example. I found it helpful to do one for myself. For stereotypes of myself (as a seemingly white woman), I did stuck up, rich, Republican, racist, etc. By showing this vulnerability, it will help your youth dig deeper. In addition, I showed another example that one of the girls had done before.
• Have the girls come up with stereotypes based on aspects of their identity like race, class, gender, etc. This should take about 15 minutes. Walk around while they are working on them and push them to think further.
• Then tell your youth on the opposite side to list things they would like people to think about them. This should take about 10 minutes.
• Have the group share their drawings.

• Discussion:
• How does it make you feel when people make assumptions about you based on your identity? How does it feel to be stereotyped?
• How do you want people to perceive you?
• Have you ever judged someone or used a stereotype?

• (Optional) After sharing, you can have the youth tear up or scribble over the stereotypes that are put on them. This will symbolize the desire to erase and eradicate stereotypes.
• Also, when I have done this stereotype activity in the past, the girls have shared many instances of discrimination that they or their families have faced, so be prepared in case this happens. It’s important that they share these stories and you, as the facilitator, do not silence them by moving on to the next activity too quickly. This may be one of the few times they have spoken up on this issue. Be sure to listen and make them feel heard.

(4) Plan of action (15-20 minutes)

• Now you may be thinking “action”? This can be as small as share what you learned with one other person or a family member to a full-scale media campaign if the youth are interested. It will depend on your resources, group’s focus, and time available.
• Has discrimination changed? How has it changed? Is it more obvious?
• How can we help people understand that the things they say or do can be hurtful?
• Can you help change things for the better? Can we change things together?

Your goal with doing this activity may be different so feel free to adapt this lesson accordingly. The purpose of this activity more than anything else is to start a dialogue and to help young people think critically about the images and representations they see. This can serve as a great building block to a deeper discussion and hopefully a prolonged conversation about social justice and racial equity.

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The STAR’s poster campaign in the news:

Colorlines – Ohio Univ. Students to Classmates: ‘We’re a Culture, Not a Costume’

ABC News – Ohio University Students Hit ‘Racist’ Halloween Costumes

Huffington Post – STARS: Student Group Takes a Stand Against Racist Costumes

Melissa Spinin Blog – “We’re a Culture, Not a Costume.” STARS, A Student Org at Ohio University