Lockdown law: Police encounters in times of COVID

Topic
- Society
- Citizenship & human rights
Learning skills
- Self-awareness
- Empathy & social awareness
- Critical & reflective thinking
- Creative thinking
Activity type
- Group discussion
- Role play
Materials
- Basic
Age
- 12 - 14 years
- 15 - 17 years
>15 minutes
+5 players
Intermediate
Medium
Medium (classroom, square)

Contributors

Mobile School

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Everything you need to play this game

Chart paper
Stickers
Pens
Dress-up clothes

A step-by-step guide to play the game

PART 1

1. Ask the players about their experiences (of their friends or family) with the police during pandemic/lockdown restrictions. Give them time to brainstorm and have them write down the answers.

Have all players post answers on chart paper at the front/middle of the room/space.

Then give everyone three stickers and invite them to come to the map (in small groups) and let them vote which three experiences they are most attracted to by putting their sticker by that experience. They may be attracted to a particular situation because they have heard it before or because they have experienced it themselves.

When all the players have voted, pick out the scenarios that were considered most important and tell them that we will work with these scenarios in a role-play.

PART 2

1. Organise the players into groups, ideally of four or five.

Collect the experiences that were chosen as most important and distribute them among the groups.

Ask them to set up a role-play. Give them about 10 minutes.

Have them assign the roles present in the scenario.

Re-enact the scenario: Once all groups are prepared, discuss your expectations to be a respectful spectator and participant. Explain that each group will present its scenario. Each scenario is introduced with a few lines before the actors come on stage. Remind them that the aim is not to be humorous; the aim is to try to play their roles in a realistic way.

PART 3

1. After each role play, thank the actors by clapping and allow a discussion to ensue with questions such as:

- To the actors playing the civilians and the police: Why did you choose this situation? Why did you make the choices you did?

- To the audience: Do you agree with the choices made by the civilians and the police in this scene? Explain.

- If you were personally in this situation (as a citizen and/or police officer) how would you have handled the situation differently?

If there is time, you can end the game with a discussion round (see sample discussion questions in additional game information).

Extra game information

Five preconditions to set up a role play:

- Tell the groups they have to make sure that everyone understands the problem that they will be communicating to the audience.

- Tell them you expect from them to play out the scenario as if it would be a real situation.

- They can choose to play out the scenario as it really happened or to improvise the scenario. For example: Do they want to let the scenario escalate or present good behaviour?

- The youngsters have to use their imagination and put themselves inside the minds of the people that they're representing. This involves trying to understand their perspectives, goals, motivations, and feelings when they enter the situation.

- Improvisation is allowed and encouraged.

Possibile reflection questions:

- How did it feel to play the role of civilians/police officers?

- What do you think is the most difficult part of police work?

- What responsibilities do citizens have in dealing with the police?

- What responsibilities do the police have in dealing with citizens?

- When confronted by a police officer, what is the best way to stand up for yourself and your rights?

- How do you think fear affects the police-community relationship? (Think about the fear of both citizens and police.)

- What do police risk by doing their job every day?

Sources:

- Erasmus+ (2020). The Role Play – When and how you should use it. https://www.salto- youth.net/downloads/toolbox_tool_download-file-2296/Role%20Play%20guide.pdf

- Mind tools content team. (n.d.). Role-Playing: Preparing for Difficult Conversations and Situations. Mind Tools. https://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/RolePlaying.htm

- Laskaris, J. (2019, 23 may). 5 Ways to use Role-Playing in eLearning. TalentLMS Blog. https://www.talentlms.com/blog/role-playing-games-in-elearning/

- Munoz, C. & Gigliotti, C. (2017). Youth Promise – A police/youth school program for 5th Graders. Waterfold Police Department. https://cdn5ss16.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_314195/File/District/Curriculum%20&%20Instr uction/Youth%20Promise%20Grade%205%20Program.PDF

Variations

While discussing alternative choices with the group, have the original group reenact the scene. The moment a spectator thinks they can make a better choice to control the situation, they can shout "Freeze!" shout. The actors then freeze in their exact position, and the audience taps an actor on the shoulder, signalling him/her to step out of the scene. The audience then takes that actor's exact position and the scene comes back to life, with the audience improvising their idea into the scene.

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