Life Skills Education Toolkit

LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION TOOLKIT FOR ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN INDIA• 21

Experience from the field

“My friends make fun of me all the time.” Even though it is a negative statement, children have come up

with constructive feelings and behavior, like thinking “I will find out why my friends make fun of me,” “I

will try to do something good/ worthwhile that will make them change their opinion of me.” (SARD,

Delhi) Responses from the girls were more on being “good” rather than thinking appropriately in any

situation and required the facilitator to do more discussion. (YWCA, Delhi)

Tips for the facilitatorTips for the facilitatorTips for the facilitatorTips for the facilitatorTips for the facilitator

Some found this activity more useful at the end of the session, so the order of activities was changed.

ACTIVITY FOUR

Managing Anger

Firecracker Control

1. Discuss firecrackers and their different varieties with the children. Some will talk about the
   “flower pot” (“anar”) which when lit, takes some time to light, then glows in a quick bright light
   and then fades. Others may mention the “wheel” (“charki”), which goes round and round on the
   floor, not stopping for a long time, and then finally slowing down. Many will favor the “string of
   crackers” (“tadafadi”), which burns quickly, has a shotgun like sound, and is very loud. There are
   many other variations that the children can bring up for discussion.


2. Associate anger with the different types of firecrackers, and ask the children to select one that
   represents their anger best. Each child should say which firecracker he or she identifies with and
   explain why it was chosen.


3. Explain that all anger is not bad. For example, anger can be helpful when some injustice is being
   done and we want to counter it, or when it pushes us to do better because we failed the first
   time, or when it energizes us in an emergency situation to get things done.
   Anger is bad when it gets out of control.


4. The facilitator can refer to the mood meter to talk about how some children feel very angry and
   some do not. Ask this second group of children to share the techniques they use to manage their
   anger. The facilitator may ask the children to present a real or imaginary anger-provoking
   situation or can provide one her/himself. This will then provide the ground to make up a list of
   ways to manage anger in a productive manner.


5. The list to manage anger may look like this:
   
   
   • Avoid the situation;
     (Especially if it is a trigger point, such as a bully or policeman threatening you. Some children
     are faced with situations where they have little control, so it is best to avoid the situation).
   
   
   • Count from 1 to 10 before responding, to calm down;