ACTIVITY 9
Agree or Disagree? Exercise
Age
For ages 7 and up
Aim
To encourage students to consider where they stand on different issues.
Process
Leader and 3+ players
Materials
Space for young people to move around, ‘agree’ and ‘disagree’ signs, and a list of debateable statements
Method
1. Post ‘agree’ and ‘disagree’ signs on different sides of the room and ask pupils to assemble in the space between the signs.
2. Read aloud a statement and ask the young people to move to the sign that best mirrors their opinion. The stronger they feel about the issue, the further they should go towards the sign. If someone is undecided, they should remain in the middle and listen to contributions from both sides before coming to a conclusion.
3. Ask the pupils to discuss their position on the given statement.
4. Once discussion on the topic has closed, begin with another statement and restart the entire process.
5. Keep in mind that recording game results may be beneficial for future work with the group and may lead to information on the group’s opinions of specific issues.
6. Start the discussion with some easy / fun statements.
7. The list below is only a sample of questions, feel free to adapt as appropriate to your subject matter.
Potential Statements and Discussion Points
· I like watching Blue Peter.
· I enjoy playing video games.
· I prefer sweet food to savoury food.
· I prefer summer to winter.
· I am creative.
· I am sporty.
· I like watching Danger Mouse.
· I like reading books.
· I like listening to music.
· One Direction are cool.
· Justin Bieber is cool.
· I like pizza.
· What I think matters.
· Sometimes when I go shopping people speak to the person I’m with instead of talking to me.
· I have the ability to change things.
· I am able to campaign about things I would like changed.
· I enjoy speaking in public.
· I am confident enough to stand up for myself.
· I am good at listening to other people’s point of view.
· People are poor because they are lazy
· It is ok to buy products made by children
· Only girls should learn to cook in school
· Children have the right to have a say in decisions that affect them.
· Adults always listen to what young people think
· It is ok for footballers to earn millions of pounds when there is so much poverty in the world
· My school cares about how much I improve in my studies
· The school staff set goals I can easily achieve
· My views are listened to and taken seriously by school staff
· My school rewards pupils who receive good marks or make good progress
· The voting age should be lowered to 16.
· Voting at elections should be required.
· There should be an equal number of male and female politicians.
· Young people are an important part of the community
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