Tool "Nina's Story"

Language: English

Project Featuring This Tool: Rainbow Resources

Themes:Gender and Sexuality Inclusion and Equality

This activity allows the participants to reflect on relationships and on obstacles that can stop people from ending unhappy relationships.

Time 60 minutes
Approximate number of participants 8+
Age under 10, 10-15
Date published 9 Dec 2011, 14:15

Objectives

To raise awareness that everyone is free to choose whether they want to be in a relationship and with whom

To encourage participants to realise that emotions change and that relationships are not necessarily for life

To be aware that one’s actions in relationships will affect other people

Materials

Copies of the obstacles (appendix II) or pens and papers to write out the obstacles

Step-by-step instructions

1. Ask the group to lie down on the floor, to close their eyes and silently think of a relationship (present or past) of two people they know well.

2. Once the group is calm and relaxed, tell the group you will ask them some questions about this relationship and everyone should think about the answers individually in their head. Leave time between each question:

Who are the two people? What do they look like? What are they like?

How did they meet?

How long have they been or were they together?

Think of one good moment the two people spent together.

Think of one bad moment the two people spent together.

Are they happy in this relationship? Why? Why not?

3. Come back together in a circle. Explain that you will now read out a story about another relationship, the story of a woman called Nina (appendix I).

4. After reading the story, divide the group into small groups. Give each group a a copy of the obstacles that Nina faces (see appendix II). They should discuss together and decide whether Nina should stay in the relationship with Jack or not.

5. Bring the group back together and ask them to share whether they think Nina and Jack should stay together.

Debriefing

What else can cause problems in a relationship?

How do relationships affect others?

How do others affect your relationships?

How long should you be in a relationship?

Why do people break up?

Should you stay in a relationship if you are unhappy?

Round up the activity by explaining that you should not hurt people on purpose but you should always feel good and comfortable in your relationship. This does not mean that people shouldn’t argue in relationships, this is normal up to a certain degree. It should always be your choice if you stay or break up.

Tips

This topic may be a particularly sensitive issue to children whose parents or guardians are separated, so make sure you make an exit from the activity clear and be aware that you may need to stop the activity (see more in Tips for Facilitators, page 14). For this reason, try to run this activity with at least two people wherever possible.

You can find the appendix in the attach file

Attached files