Ashique's story

Topic
- Labour, business & entrepreneurship
- Society
- Citizenship & human rights
Learning skills
- Empathy & social awareness
- Critical & reflective thinking
- Communication & expression
Activity type
- Group discussion
Materials
- Basic
- Printable downloads
Age
- 12 - 14 years
- 15 - 17 years
- 18+ years
>15 minutes
+5 players
Intermediate
Calm
Small (office, pavement)

Contributors

ARSIS- Association for the Social Support of Youth

View profile

Everything you need to play this game

Copies of the facts of Ashique's life; one copy per participant ( Compass, 2012, p. 104) Download ashiqies-story-handouts-right-to-protection.pdf (69kb)
Pens or markers for each group
Flipchart paper or large sheets of paper (A3)

A step-by-step guide to play the game

Ask participants what they know about child labour.

Explain that the activity is based on a case study of Ashique, who works in a brick factory in Pakistan.

Warm up with a round of 'composed telling' where players take turns adding a sentence to an imaginary story about a day in Ashique's life.

Divide the players into small groups of up to 5 people per group.

Give everyone a copy of Ashique's case study and allow 10 minutes to read and share comments.

Further, explain that their task is to come up with solutions to the problems of Ashique and other child workers like him.

Players should write down in the appropriate columns the possible steps that can be taken to solve the problem "by tomorrow", "by next month" and "by 2030". They have 30 minutes to complete this task and appoint a spokesperson to report back.

Make plenary rounds to get feedback on each column.

Summarise the ideas on the flipchart and allow discussion on the ideas.

Proceed to a more extensive discussion and debrief using the reflection questions in the "Additional game information" section.

Extra game information

The depth of the discussion will depend on participants' general knowledge, but try to address questions about both their views on child labour and possible solutions.

How much did people know about the existence of child labour before doing this activity? How did they know? Where did they get the information?
Does child labour exist in their country/city? What work do children do and why do they work?
Should children be allowed to work if they want to?
In what ways do we, as consumers, benefit from child labour?
How difficult was it to think of possible steps to solve child labour? Which of the three columns - "by tomorrow", "by next month" and "by 2030" - was the most difficult to fill in? Why?
There have been many national and international statements and conferences on child labour. Why is it still such a widespread problem in the world?
How does the Convention on the Rights of the Child protect the exploitation of children?
Who is responsible for solving the problem?
What can ordinary people like us do to contribute to achieving the SDGs, especially those of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and achieving universal primary education? How and when?

This game is part of the 'All Children, All Right(s)!' toolkit, which focuses on promoting the right to protection.

Variations

If you want to develop participants' knowledge on the concept of child labour prior to the activity, you can use a quiz, for instance, one from the www.unicef.org or www.thinkquest.org web pages.
Instead of warming up with a "composed storytelling" exercise, divide the players into small groups with a maximum of 5 people per group. Give each group five pieces of A3 paper and ask them to draw five events in a typical day in Ashique's life and to present them as in a comic strip. When the groups have finished, ask to them to present their stories.
Participants who are good at drawing cartoons may like to draw Ashique's story as a comic strip with each scene of his life in a different square. Make sure you keep it simple, including just the basic information. Make photocopies of the story (one copy per group) and cut out the squares. Give one set of pictures to each group and ask them to make up a story about Ashique by adding short texts or speech bubbles. When the groups have finished, ask to them to present their stories.

Source: https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/46

What people said about this game

Be the first to write a review

If you have played this game please help inform other people by giving a review.

Have you played Ashique's story game?

Don’t hesitate, share your feedback and help others to pick the right games. Tell us how it was and how the children reacted? Or do you have any advice for other players, a fun variation, a possible improvement?