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IT'S
Not Fair!!!! Or As The Rules Change
By Patti Brown and Cindy Wittwer
Printed in EAGALA News, Sep/Oct 2002, p.7
In June we were scheduled to do teacher trainings for elementary, middle and high school
teachers from a public school. It was a two-day workshop. One of our goals was to raise the
teachers' awareness to some to the challenges and issues faced by their students. To do this
we adapted ‘Temptation Alley'. We created an alley out of ropes, boards, tires, etc. The
alley was shaped similar to the letter ‘Z'.
The 16 participants counted off by twos. We gave the two groups the following rules: No
touching the horse, no bribing (or simulated bribing) and you must stay out of the alley.
The first group came in the arena and at first struggled. Then one of the participants was
able to reach in and grab the long end of Miss Kitty's halter, and simply led her to the
end.
Some of the people from group number 2 shouted, "It's NOT FAIR!!!!" so we had them group
up and decide if that was fair or not. They decided that it was unethical.
Then it was time for group number two to do the task. Before they came into the arena, we
placed several feed pans full of grain and a bale of hay in the alley. Again, a resounding,
"It's NOT FAIR!!!" When the participants came into the arena, they were irritated about the
perceived dishonesty and unfairness. They rushed at Miss Kitty and she bolted out of the
alley several times. At one point we had to stop them because the horse was pinning her ears
and bolting right through the participants.
Next, some of the group members tried covering the feed pans with their sweatshirts, but
Miss Kitty munched around the clothes. Then one accomplice reached over, grabbed Miss
Kitty's halter, and led her through the alley. Now it was Group Number One who screamed,
"It's NOT FAIR!!!!"
The point of the exercise was to help the teachers get a clearer understanding of the
different life journeys of their students. For some students their life is very similar to
the first alley: easy going, with few distractions and no real obstacles. These kids may
wander beyond their boundaries, but quickly return to the correct path. Similar to the
second alley, for other children life really is unfair. Their lives are full of obstacles
and temptations for which they have little preparation to handle. They may have adults
rushing after them, and they react by running or becoming aggressive, just like Miss Kitty
did. For the students, parents and teachers there are a lot of frustrations.
Differences in the paths of the various students became very clear to the teachers.
Feedback after the workshop reiterated that the point had been made. Learning also
occurred in the area of ethics. Were the rules being broken, or were the participants
just being creative? We talked about students being faced with similar decisions throughout
the school year. Helping students make that distinction could be critical.
Overall this activity was very successful. We enjoyed the energy of it as well as the
success of bringing up the issues. We again modified it and used it at out Level II
training. This time we set up two alleys beside each other so that both groups would do
the activity simultaneously. One alley was built with tall, clearly defined boundaries
(corral panels). The other was very diffuse (ropes, a few orange cones, and lines drawn
in the sand with our boots). Then we made it really unfair by putting buckets of feed
in it. The metaphor here was how much easier it is to move through life when you have
clear boundaries. To add another dimension, we mentioned what time it was when the
activity began. From this the participants surmised that the exercise was a competition
and cooperation was compromised.
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