"Labels" Reflection

   

   At the risk of blowing it for elsewhere I am keen to write up the reflection offered at Charlestown JY Youth Group 2 weeks ago!! 'Labels' and to some extent bullying were the topics!!

We played a number of games on the night but adjourned early for a group activity/discussion. If we are going to continue with a 15min 'reflection/discussion' for discipling input then I favour doing that early so it's not the cost of belonging or participation but happens when there's more group time remaining...

GAMES
Name Bop
In a circle with person 'in' centre, pillow in hand. Simple idea, say your name and someone elses and they in turn say theirs and someone elses. 'In' from the centre of the circle at the outset then tries to bop someone with the pillow before they get both names said... Person hit becomes 'in.' Helps you and the group learn names of less familiar group members.

Sardines
One person hides and everyone else searches. When you find the hider you hide with them until all have found you... repeat with first finder to hide...
Challenge, doesn't require sporting skills, repeatable...

Circle Tag
Where circles of 46 join hands with one 'in' person that they then move to protect from a chaser attempting to tip them, without breaking hands in the circle. Good fun for groupwork, cooperation and a spirit of protecting your own.

Streets & Lanes
We tried this but the JY kids don't always listen and it was just a waste of time... se we moved on...

REFLECTION/ACTIVITY/DISCUSSION
I talked about the idea of 'labels' that can sometimes define who we are if we let them, explained what a TED Talk was and played Shane Kocyzan the performance poet/writer "To This Day" telling his story of growing up, being bullied & becoming what he loathed...
[spoiler alert] I left his one profanity in the clip but do have an edited version... it's just an honest story and I knew it would resonate and have an impact.

We spoke about 'labels' we all wear and the group wrote various labels on manilla parcel labels [to be hung on a string later as a reminder]... there were great ideas... and everyone understood the way these labels do and don't define our identity...

I told a version of the story of Zack [Zacchaeus] from Luke 19: 1-10 with the interpretation that as a short man who ends up collecting taxes for Rome and cheating people, Zack suffered with a few 'labels'... We thought about Jesus response of compassion, inclusion and standing with...

We finished listening to/watching the clip of Kate Miller Heidke "Caught in the Crowd" her own story and Daily Telegraph newspaper anti-bullying theme song.

I also had a 'Ditch the Label' video from here on hand if needed but we did well and used all our time...