Youth Workin' It

Consultancy and Resources for Youth Workers and Organizations Worldwide

Spirituality Or Morality Discussions – Youth Work Session Ideas

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Spiritual and morality discussions
Don’t you just want to confabulate with these ‘diverse youth on bench in park’?

To introduce areas of spirituality or morality to youth work sessions, I like to use the ‘Confabulation’ – a fun and weird word which means the much less exciting… discussion.

This is a small group, facilitated discussion about moral issues or issues of spirituality and gets youth engaging, discussing, sometimes even debating about their views on these important issues.

I find that a well placed confabulation allows for youth without many spiritual or strong moral influences to think about these issues for the first time, or allow youth well versed in these issues to explore them on a deeper level, in a safe environment.

3 tips for a good Confab

  1. Remind everyone about the ‘rules of engagement’ – everyone is safe to express their opinions in a group that is respectful and calm. No name calling, teasing, verbal judgments etc. Everyone has the right and opportunity to say what they think, no matter how popular or unpopular their ideas.
  2. Share a story, personal or otherwise (remembering good boundaries for sharing personal stories and examples), news article, scripture verse/story, etc. Anything to get the ball rolling on a topic.
  3. Facilitate, but don’t dominate, the confab. Make sure that the youth are sharing ideas openly and equally, keep the group tension at a manageable level, allow for silence and share your views too. Gently correct areas of misinformation or negative/dangerous ideas – one of the best ways to do this is through good questioning skills. Ask thoughtful questions that provoke personal reflection.

Possible Confabulation Topics

  • Anger vs. Forgiveness
  • Is there a God?
  • Why is there religion?
  • Why do people go to places of worship each week?
  • What is peace?
  • Why is there poverty?
  • Why is that story in religious texts?
  • Is it important to help others?
Question: What topic would you confab about with your youth? Share your ideas in the comments below.

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Vicious Cycle Aggression Management Technique

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Vicious cycle aggression management techniqueLast week we briefly talked about the difference between ‘managing anger’ and ‘understanding anger but managing aggression’.

One activity you can use to help young people understand how they can make better choices when it comes to aggression management is the Vicious Circle.

Vicious Circle Activity

  1. Give each young person a large piece of paper and a marker
  2. Have them draw (or write words if they’re really uncomfortable drawing) a time where they were angry and what happened
  3. Have them draw the images in a circle on the paper, going through the steps of what happened (See Figure 1 from the downloadable example below, but remember to have them draw – it’s been written for ease of use)
  4. Once they’ve drawn their pictures, go over each story with them. Allow them to share what happened
  5. Then ask them to think about each stage. Have them try to identify where they could have stepped out of the cycle and changed how they reacted. Explore what the alternative outcomes might have been

You can download a free copy of what the Vicious Circle looks like here. This is a very basic example, but it really helps young people reflect when it’s their story and their experience.

The red outlined examples are the Vicious Circle, while the blue arrows and outline examples are how they might reflect on changes they could make to manage their aggression and step out of the circle.

Question: What aggression management technique do you use to help young people learn to manage their aggression? Share your ideas and best practice in the comments below.

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Understanding Anger – Youth Work Session Idea

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Understanding anger youthI don’t believe in anger management.

I don’t believe that anger is something that needs managing. Anger is a feeling and I believe everyone is entitled to feel any way they wish.

Aggression, however is something that can – and in many cases should – be managed. Aggression is the action that accompanies our feelings of anger.

I tell my young people they are welcome to be angry for as long as they like (even though it’s not always very productive), but I expect them to learn skills to help them manage their aggression.

This is always the first discussion I have with the youth in my programs during a session about Understanding Anger (and aggression management). We discuss what anger is, what aggression is and how we are to handle them.

Use the activity below as a jumping off point into a discussion to help youth understand anger.

Discussion Starting Activity – Understanding Anger:

  1. You need a flipchart or whiteboard (or large paper) and colored markers
  2. Ask the group what they think anger is. Use different colored pens and write down their answers
  3. Use one color for thoughts/emotions and another color for behaviors (don’t tell the group why you’re using different colors)
  4. Have the group identify what the difference is between the colors. Hopefully they’ll recognize that one color is for feelings/thoughts and one color is for behaviors.
  5. Use this as a starting point for your day and discussions about the different between anger and aggression.

Next week, we’ll have another activity you can use – the Vicious Cycle aggression management technique.

Question: How do you help young people with understanding angry? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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