Spatial Requirements: Regular classroom setup: little or no space required
Activity Type: Object lesson
Grades: 3-12
Group Size: 2 or more
Time: 5-10 minutes

Introduction: This activity is designed to help students understand that when the pressures and stresses of life mount up, they have tools to respond in positive ways.

Materials:

• 16 large books 
  
  

Activity:

Stack all of the books on top of each other on a table.  Ask for a volunteer, and tell the volunteer that you are going to add or take away a book to his/her outstretched hands as the group responds to questions.  The volunteer is to keep his/her arms as straight as possible during the activity.

Ask the students the following questions, and add a book to your volunteer’s outstretched hands for each negative response. For each positive response, remove a book from the volunteer’s hands.

How do you respond or act when you are:  (Go through seven or eight, or until the person holding the books cannot hold any more.)

Disrespected
Yelled at
Put down
Laughed at
Mad at parents
Embarrassed
Made a mistake
Under pressure
You are hit
You lose
Confronted
Frustrated
Blamed
Get caught
Hurt
Angry

Processing the Experience:

• What did the books represent?
• Who chooses our defense mechanisms?
• How do you know if you have selected a positive defense mechanism?
• What happened to the volunteer when more books were added?
• What happens to you when you respond in a negative way to pressure situations?
• Is it easier to respond in a negative or positive way?  Why?
• What are the reasons to respond in a positive way?