Exploring “Me” with adolescents of Government School

“I want to do something that no one could imagine, no one could dream.”

Sounds interesting and different! We began our gender, sexuality and reproductive health intervention with first set of adolescent boys studying in Government School, Dwarka by dwelling upon the most tricky yet very simple question of one’s existence ‘Who am I?” After having worked with more than 300 adolescents for over 3 years, we thought to change our approach and bring some twist in the session. There was extensive innovation in terms of activities, sequence, discourse and the way the information needed to be shared so with respect to facilitation, we went with zero expectations with no idea as to how the participants would respond or whether our first session would have same spark as we always have with the workshop on ‘Identity’. And this is what brought us out of our comfort zone and excitement to engage with new set of participants.

The first change was of energizer, where we let go of our most entertaining ‘Ungli Dance’ and replacing it with ‘Crazy thing you have done!’ This actually brought them on edge because being in school and not doing things that bring excitement and fun as this generally includes something which is not supposed to be done- also no one engages in this kind of conversation. So what started with hesitation, murmuring and whispers turned into bunch of interesting things that the participants have done for sheer joy!

“When my parents are not at home, I play games on mobile phone”

“I sneak out when my parents leave home telling me specifically not to go out”

“I enjoy climbing on steep cliffs”

“I want to become scientist which is supposed to be crazy aspiration according to people around me”

Many of them shared that they have bunked classes, jumped into deep waters and pulled out bizzare pranks as crazy thing they have done. This activity made us realize that the question that was asked as part of the energizer was abstract or more of reflective which could be perfect to engage with young people however with adolescents/children we would need more of prompts to support them to take that leap as they are not usually in the space of reflection and sharing. It could be a great practice for them to open up and speak their mind without the fear of judgment.

In order to understand their level of knowledge on the various issues of adolescents – whether they have heard these things or experienced or not know, we gave them pre assessment forms. We were not very sure as how the participants would engage – doubtful as to whether they would get bored or annoyed by filling these questions, however we received exact contradiction of our assumption.

“Yeah, this is one of the crazy exams that I have ever appeared in”

It was an amazing experience where instead of us giving them introduction of Sahas’s work and what will be happening in the coming weeks, they got the idea from the assessment. There were giggles, murmuring around the words sex, condom, periods and this created an unexpected vulnerable space where the participants were thinking, talking and putting their thoughts aloud creating a buzz for the upcoming sessions.

“I think many of us would know something about the questions, he is not saying here because he is embarrassed just come to our class- he is the one who explains most of the things”

In the next activity, the participants were invited to create their identity maps which brought out their likes, dislikes, dreams, aspirations and what irks them most.

“I love cooking food”

“I want to become choreographer”

“I wish to become a famous scientist one day”

“I love singing, playing different instruments and just being alive in the music”

“I clean my house very well and I receive lot of appreciation for it”

One of the identity maps that caught my attention was where this participant had mentioned everything that he hates!

“I wish to beat those people who do wrong things”

“I hate poor people”

“Why don’t people mind their own business, why do they have to meddle into other’s business?”

“People tease and irritate me a lot. I don’t like that”

All these statements were very strong, reflected a lot about the person and this is probably the intention of the activity where the participant could find their core! It was also interesting to see that none of the boys had written ‘being a boy’ as their identity.

In the next part of the activity, they had to stand with the other participant who share one of their points from the identity map and engage with each other on the statement- ‘how did you feel when you came to know about the similarity?”

One of the participant shared, “I felt good because he had already shared how I felt. So I didn’t have to say it in front of everyone.” This boy is bullied and taunted for being overweight. The similarity of experiences support them in understanding that they are not alone, there is someone like them experiencing the same thing – that gives strength and helps them to fight odds.

There were two people who didn’t get any partners, one of them shared, “It felt good that no one had shared same features as mine. I am different and unique.”

This conversation and their aspirations were like positive rainbow that gives hope and inspire me to keep going. Post this; the facilitator shared a story of a girl in order to build discourse on how important is to hold on to certain values as they are the foundation stone for your future self. It was overwhelming to see how participants went from chirpy self to listening intently – relishing and valuing the objective of the said story.

The last activity was the highlight of the entire session which explained the self-esteem in altogether a new light. This also gave infusion of positive energy as by the end of the activity, the participants were beaming with a smile, listing not one or two but number of their positive attributes. The vulnerable space found a closure when the students could list down the qualities that they think they have irrespective of what others make them believe!