Getting Involved in the Community
Activity 1

For last night’s homework, you were supposed to read a story and be ready to tell it to the class today in your own words. You didn’t read a story last night because you were having too much fun playing video games. You figured you could remember an old story. When your teacher calls on you, you are suddenly nervous and can’t remember any stories at all. What should you do?

A teenage neighbor is responsible for you while your parents go to a movie. Your neighbor wears a hearing aid because he is partially deaf. Tonight, he tells you, his hearing aid isn’t working very well. The telephone rings, but your neighbor doesn’t hear it, so your parents’ answering machine takes a message. When your neighbor isn’t watching, you play the message back. The message is from your parents. They had forgotten to tell your neighbor your bedtime. You realize you can get away with staying up later. When your parents find out, they’ll blame your neighbor for not getting the message. What thoughts go through your head? What do you do?

You’re at a school picnic and there’s a long line for buying cold drinks. You’re really thirsty. You see a friend of yours way ahead of you in line. Should you ask your friend if you can cut in line? How is the idea of respect for others connected to this situation? How do others in line feel when somebody cuts in line?

You borrow a great book from your classroom. It’s a lot of fun to read. By accident, you spill chocolate milk on the book. It’s a mess. You take the book out of your book bag as soon as you get to your classroom. The teacher is busy. You could just take the book back to the shelf and leave it there. What should you do? Why?

You are in a dodge-ball game. One kid is throwing the ball too hard. A couple of kids have already quit the game, but most don’t want to because they think quitting would make them seem weak. What do you do? If you say something, what do you say and to whom do you say it?