Protecting Oneself

Introduction

Everybody always try to survive. This “Protecting Oneself” exercise shows that people get protective when they are threatened by others in the group. The first instinct is to protect oneself.

Objectives

  1. To know why people protect themselves
  2. To understand how the environment has an effect on human behavior.

Duration

  • 30 minutes

Materials

  • Small pieces of paper (one for each participant)
  • Paper tape
  • Marker pen
  • Whistle

Methodology

  1. Ask the participants to make a big circle.
  2. Everybody gets a piece of paper with their name or a number written on it. Every person should get a different number.
  3. Ask the participants to fix the paper on their back with some paper tape.
  4. Explain that the paper on their back is their identity. Everybody should try to snatch the paper from the back of others. But everybody should make every effort to protect his/her own paper.
  5. The game will be started and ended with the blow of the whistle.
  6. The person who collected most papers is the winner.

Some guidelines for discussion

  1. What’s your feeling when someone approaches you to snatch your paper?
  2. How did you protect yourself?
  3. Did you think that there was someone who wouldn’t attack you?
  4. Why do people protect themselves?
  5. What happens when a person is in an environment where there is a threat that others can be harmful to him?
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