Penny Lowe, Trans Pride, Window on my World, 2016
This activity is designed for general youth settings. The purpose of the activity is to introduce young people to the concept of activism and standing up for what they believe.
1. Ask each person in the group to stand up, one at a time, and say something that they stand for. Here are some examples:
“I stand for free university education for all.”
“I stand for the voting age to be lowered to 16 years old.”
“I stand for a three day weekend.”
After each person has said what they stand for, those who agree with them should stand up too. Then all sit back down. Ideally, there is to be no discussion in between each person.
When everyone in the group has stood up and said what they stand for, discuss with the group what it felt like to stand up and speak out, and how it felt when others did or did not stand with them.
2. Ask everyone to write their own “I Stand For” poem about a topic they feel passionately about. This could also be done in pairs or in small groups as a “We Stand For” poem. The poem should convey a passion for the topic and the purpose of the poem should be to convince others to feel passionately about this topic too.
When participants have a first draft of the poem, ask them to read it to another person/pair/group and to give each other feedback on how it could be made more even persuasive. Give more time to implement feedback. When the poems are finished, invite participants to read their poems to the whole group.