Life Skills Education Toolkit

LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION TOOLKIT FOR ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN INDIA 5•

Experience from the field

These are qualities of girls and boys from a street children project in Delhi, (PCI).

A mixed group of children—boys and girls—12-14 and 15-18 wrote these qualities as listed below. Those

marked with an X indicate what the children later said both could do:

Boys Girls

Go to school X Do household work X

Have muscles Very weak and short

Do not cry X Vulnerable and cry

Do not do household work X Are not supposed to go out alone or stay out late at night X

Have an affair X Cannot have an affair with other boys or men X

Can smoke and use drugs X Are not supposed to smoke or use drugs X

Question Box

Tell the children that there is a question box where they can write any questions that requires

answers without desclosing their names. Inform them that it will be opened at the end of every

activity or session and answers will be provided at that time. When providing answers, encourage

answers from the group first to understand what the group knows and then provide the accurate

answers. Place the question box in a place that is easily accessible and make sure everyone

knows where it is.

Review

Discuss

• Why did we give different qualities to boys and girls?


• Who influences us in giving these qualities? What do parents say? Teachers? Others?


• How realistic are the qualities?


• Can these qualities harm the way we look at boys/girls?


• What is one new thing you have learned of the opposite sex?