TAKE A STEP FORWARD

In this activity participants experience what it is like to be someone else in their society. The issues addressed include:  stereotypes, discrimination, poverty, general Human Rights, social inequality, empathy

Objectives:

- To promote empathy with others who are different 

- To raise awareness about the inequality of opportunities in society 

- To foster an understanding of possible personal consequences of belonging to certain social minorities or cultural groups

Materials:

- role cards

- an open space (all participants are going to stay in one line and do steps forward)

- list of situations/statements

- questions for reflection

- (optional: calm/relaxing music in a background)

1) Create calm atmosphere, ask participants for silence.

2) Distribute role cards (1 per participant).

3) Invite participants to sit, relax and get into the role. Help them by suggestive questions (make pauses):

- About childhood: What was it like? How did your home (neighbourhood) look like? Who were your parents? How did you play/spent your time? 

- About current life: How does your day look like? What do you do in the morning, afternoon, evening? How your home (neighbouhood) does look like? Where do you socialise? How much money do you spent every month? What are your hobbies? Where you go on holiday?

- What excites you? What are you looking forward to? What are you afraid of?

4) Ask participants to stay silent and line up (next to each other with space to walk forward).

5) Describe the “game”: You are going to read situations/sentences. Participants are answering YES/NO according to their role. If they are answering YES, they make a step forward. If they are answering NO, they stay where they are. (Participants are remaining silent all game and focusing on their role).

6) Start reading sentences/situations, make pauses for participants to answer and make a step.

7) At the end invite everyone to look around and try to remember their final position (especially related to the others)

8) Ask participants to STEP OUT OF ROLE. (small bodyshake may help too)

9) Continue with debriefing:

- In small groups (so everyone has opportunity to talk about experience):

o How did you feel stepping forward (or not)?

o For those stepping forward often:

- when did you noticed others are not moving so fast?

- how did yu feel leaving them behind?

o For those staying at one place most of the time:

- how did you feel being left behind?

o Could you guess the other roles?

- who do you think the others are?

o Share your role with the others:

- was it difficult to imagine different life? Why?

- what was your role story based on? What is your source of information about this role? Personal experience, media, books…?

- was it difficult to play your role during the game?

- All together in big circle:

o What did you learn during this game?

o Does this exercise mirror society in some way? How?

 

List of situations/statements:

You have never encountered any serious financial difficulty. 

You have decent housing with a telephone line and television. 

You feel your language, religion and culture are respected in the society where you live. 

You feel that your opinion on social and political issues matters, and your views are listened to. 

Other people consult you about different issues. 

You are not afraid of being stopped by the police. 

You know where to turn for advice and help if you need it. 

You have never felt discriminated against because of your origin. 

You have adequate social and medical protection for your needs. 

You can go away on holiday once a year. 

You can invite friends for dinner at home. 

You have an interesting life and you are positive about your future. 

You feel you can study and follow the profession of your choice. 

You are not afraid of being harassed or attacked in the streets, or in the media. 

You can vote in national and local elections. 

You can celebrate the most important religious festivals with your relatives and close friends. 

You can participate in an international seminar abroad. 

You can go to the cinema or the theatre at least once a week. 

You are not afraid for the future of your children. 

You can buy new clothes at least once every three months. 

You can fall in love with the person of your choice. 

You feel that your competence is appreciated and respected in the society where you live. 

You can use and benefit from the Internet.

 

List of roles:

You are an unemployed single mother. 

You are the daughter of the local bank manager. 

You study economics at university. 

You are an Arab Muslim girl living with your parents who are devoutly religious people. 

You are a soldier in the army, doing compulsory military service. 

You are a disabled young man who can only move in a wheelchair. 

You are a 17-year-old Roma (Gypsy) girl who never finished primary school.

You are an HIV positive, middle-aged prostitute. 

You are an unemployed schoolteacher in a country whose new official language you are not fluent in. 

You are a 24-year-old refugee from Afghanistan. 

You are an illegal immigrant from Mali. 

Take a step forward You are the president of a party-political youth organisation (whose “mother” party is now in power). 

You are the son of a Chinese immigrant who runs a successful fast food business. 

You are the daughter of the American ambassador to the country where you are now living. 

You are the owner of a successful import-export company. 

You are a retired worker from a factory that makes shoes.

 You are the girlfriend of a young artist who is addicted to heroin. 

You are a 22-year-old lesbian. You are a fashion model of African origin. 

You are a homeless young man, 27 years old. 

You are the 19-year-old son of a farmer in a remote village in the mountains.