Key Messages

We all deserve respect in a friendship.

  • We all have the right to say when a friend has behaved badly.
  • We can develop strategies to keep a friendship strong and healthy.

Learning Intention

Students will: Identify when boundaries have been crossed in a relationship/s.

Time

30 minutes.

Required Resources

  • A set of Forgive or forget cards.
Download Required Resources

Teaching Notes

Remind students that they’re not to share personal stories, as the aim is to look at general issues around friendships, relationships and ethical behaviour rather than specific, real-life examples. You can leave a few cards out of the activity, depending on students’ needs and maturity level.

Procedure

  1. Introduce the activity as being a way of talking about certain behaviours that can happen during adolescence.
  2. Clear a space on the floor and ask students to form a circle around it. Place students into pairs.
  3. Put the Forgive or forget situation labels titled, Challenge the person, Forget the friendship, Forgive and Not sure on the floor, in the middle of the space.
  4. Let students know each pair will be given a card with a situation on it and that they’ll need to decide which of these categories they think it belongs under.
  5. Give each pair of students a Forgive or forget situation card.
  6. Ask them to put their card under their chosen category. This can be done as a class, one card at a time, with an explanation as you go, or after all the cards have been put down. Alternatively,
    this activity can be done in small groups, followed by a class discussion. (Additional cards would need to be printed).
  7. Ask volunteers to share with the class why they chose to put their card under the particular label.

Questioning

  1. Are there differences in what people think is forgivable?
  2. What impact might religion or culture have on this?
  3. What could a person do if they didn’t want to accept a certain behaviour from a friend or partner?
  4. What impact could drinking alcohol have on behaviour and is it an excuse for bad behaviour?
  5. Why are some behaviours considered unacceptable?
  6. What other things happen during adolescence or at parties that are either acceptable or unacceptable?
  7. What people or sources of information could an individual access if they had any further questionings surrounding this topic?

Curriculum Information