Tolerance: Responding to Differences

Middle school years are the prime time when kids “make fun” of each other for differences in clothing, speech, physical traits and ethnicity. This video, consisting of four dramatic scenes and real-life interviews will challenge your students to look at each scene and determine what they would do in each situation. In the first scene we meet Miguel, a talented basketball player whose clothing doesn’t seem to measure up to another boy’s standards. Students are asked whether it was fair for the other boy to judge Miguel based on his clothes. Next we meet Stephanie. She is an out-going teenager but needs a wheel chair to move around. The question this time is whether the comments made by her classmates that she seems “different,” are true. Spencer’s mother can’t go to his science fair because she has to work. When he trips Jodie during class the next day and calls her names, your students are asked why they think Spencer mistreated her. Kyle has a weight problem. When his classmates make fun of him as he plays basketball, your students are asked what options Kyle has to deal with his negative feelings. The program concludes with a section called “Tools for Tolerance” which demonstrates that the tools of empathy, respect, acceptance, and forgiveness can be used to develop more tolerant attitudes. 

Includes: 

video, plus teacher’s resource book, student handouts and pre/post tests in digital format