1. Introduction and reflection(5 min)

Introduce the topic and ask a few students to share important lessons learned from the previous lesson.

2. Warming up: Trust (10 min)

Materials

None

Aim

Students physically experience that it can be exciting and pleasurable to trust people who are close to them and literally are able to fall back on them.

How

1. Start with asking students to stand in a circle and then make groups of four.
2. They take turns in standing, three people behind one person.
3. Then the one at the front drops backwards.
4. The other three catch this person preventing him from falling.
5. Repeat the game so all four have a go.
6. Reflection questions:
   1. What did you experience while doing this game?
   2. Did you like the feeling of falling and being caught?
   3. What do you think: would it matter who stands behind you? A friend or a stranger? Which person would it be easier to “fall back” on? Why?

Teacher Tips

If the students are afraid to drop themselves at once, a way to overcome this is for the ‘catching students’ to stand quite close behind this person initially: do not let him/her fall very far before catching. A second or third time the catchers can step backwards, so the person falls further each time and thus builds trust.

Wrap Up

Tell students: if you like to share something you are worried about, you need people to fall back on, people you can trust, for instance friends, family or perhaps a teacher or a religious leader. It’s important to gather people around you with whom you can share your life, who can support you and who can help you realize your dreams.

3. Presentation: Friendship and support(30 min)

Material

Presentation: Friendship and support

Aim

1. Students understand the importance of friends as part of the process of becoming adults.
2. Students understand their changing relationships with their parents or guardians.
3. Students understand the influence of peers/friends on their behaviour and opinions.
4. Students understand the importance of receiving and giving support.

How

1. Presentation (20 min)
   Students read the dialog between Chimwemwe and Kondwani together in pairs or groups. Students should address discussion points that are stated in the presentation with each other, before they continue with the presentation.
   The presentation covers the following topics:
   1. The process of becoming independent and its characteristics;
   2. The importance of having friends and being a friend to others;
   3. Testing boundaries and how to handle conflicts with parents;
   4. Influencing friends, being influenced by them & peer pressure;
   5. Bullying and how to stand up for people being bullied;
   6. Asking for support and giving support.
2. Plenary reflection (10 min)
   Ask the students these questions, to check if they’ve understood the presentation.
   1. What are the characteristics of a good friend?
   2. When is someone a bad friend? And when should you end a friendship?
   3. Why is asking for support an important skill?
   4. How can you offer support?
   5. What is peer pressure and how can you resist peer pressure?

Use the key messages from the wrap up to deliver the right message.

Wrap Up

Conclude the presentation with the following:

1. Having friends is a source of support, love and joy. It has a positive effect on our self-esteem and personal growth.
2. If you grow up, friends become more important in your life as you grow more independent of your parents.
3. It is important to be able to ask and receive support: a problem shared is a problem halved.

4. Role play - My assertive response to peer pressure (15 min)

Materials

Worksheet : Assertive communication II - My assertive response to peer pressure
Tip sheet : Rules of clear communication

Choose and print ‘paper version’ if you don’t work on the computer.
Sample answers to worksheet my assertive response to peer pressure.

Aim

Students know how to respond assertively to situations of (peer) pressure, pressure of parents and bullying.

How

Students take a few minutes to do the personality game on the computer alone, with a trusted class mate or in a safe group with class mates. See Tools and Games

Wrap Up

You are a unique person with a unique personality. You might differ from your classmates, but that is okay! Celebrate diversity: boy, girl; black, mixed-race; short, tall; rich, poor, HIV positive, HIV negative. Be proud of who you are, regardless of how you look and where you come from.

5. Option: Alternative for the personality game or as homework – Thumbs up for me!

Material

One sheet of paper for each student.
Pencils, pens, coloured markers.

Aim

1. Students reflect on things they are good at or on things about themselves they are proud of.
2. Students learn to talk openly about themselves.

How

1. Give each student a piece of paper on which they draw their own hand by following the contours of one’s hand with a pen. See ‘samples’.
2. Ask the students to write in each finger something they are good at or something about themselves they are proud of. Allow time for them to decorate their hand making it their own hand logo.
3. At the end of the activity, stick all the hands on the wall and allow learners to share their hand logo with their classmates.

Wrap Up

Be proud of who you are, regardless of how you look and where you come from. You are a unique person with your own set of values and your own personality.

6. Lesson wrap up (5 min)

Share as core message of this lesson the following:

“Having positive relationships with the people around you is very important; to grow as a person, build self-esteem and to feel and be supported. Communicating clearly, resisting peer pressure and asking for, receiving and also giving support all will help you to build a positive connection with your peers, friends and family. Receiving support from others shows how important it is to appreciate the people who support you. If you share your appreciation, your support-network may even become stronger”

Instruct students to write the core message of this lesson in their Top Tip Peer Book.