Day 2 Virtue Demonstration: RESPECT
You’ll need:
- (Pre-planned) teenage girl volunteer (13-17 yrs. old)
- 7 inflated balloons tied together with ribbon (all different sizes, shapes and colors; one must be blue and one must be red)
- 1 extra blue balloon (not inflated)
- 1 extra red balloon (not inflated)
- A pin
I am going to do a little demonstration about respect. Have teenage girl volunteer walk in with 7 balloons and remain standing at the front for the entire demonstration.
Ask:
Take a look at these balloons. How would you describe these balloons?
(They’re fun and colorful, all different sizes and shapes, there’s lots of them, etc.)
This is (teenage girl’s name) and each of these balloons represent some of the wonderful things about her. (point to any balloon, except the blue or red one) This balloon represents her love for books. And this balloon is for her joyful smile. And this balloon is for her beautiful eyes. And this one is for her faith in God. And this one is for her great laugh. When we take a step back and see all the different balloons, you can see how fun and exciting being yourself really is!
Who can tell me what the word respect means? (treating others with kindness and the way you want to be treated, not saying mean things, honoring someone, etc.)
Now, who can tell me what the word disrespect means? (being mean and rude, to insult someone, saying nasty things, pushing people around, disobeying God’s word, etc.)
Demonstrate:
When we disrespect someone, we are hurting them. Let’s demonstrate this: I need one volunteer to come up and pop a balloon. (pick an older male volunteer)
This red balloon represents (teen girl volunteer’s name) talent for being really good at sports.
One way we can be disrespectful is by being rude and making fun of someone’s talents. Saying bad words when we are angry, annoyed or jealous can hurt people really badly. It’s like we’re popping their balloon.
(Give the male volunteer a pin and tell him to pop the red balloon. Then, ask him to go back to his seat). (Point to the blue balloon in the cluster of balloons). This blue balloon represents (girl volunteer’s name) height.
Another way we show disrespect is by being mean and pushing someone around because of the way they look. For example, you may think they’re too small or too tall. By picking on someone, we can make them feel pretty sad (or bad) about themselves.
I need another volunteer to pop a balloon. (Pick another older girl volunteer) (Give the volunteer a pin and tell her to pop the blue balloon. Ask her to go back to her seat).
When we disrespect someone, it hurts them and it’s like we pop a piece of their heart.
What are some ways we can make this better? (Say you’re sorry, ask for forgiveness, try to be more respectful and kind to others, etc.)
(Leader asks the boy and girl volunteer who popped the balloons to come back to the front).
Give the boy a red balloon and the girl a blue balloon. Note: The boy & girl are blowing up the balloon in the same colour as the one they popped. Blow up your balloon and tie it up. It’s important that we tell those we’ve hurt: “I’m sorry, please forgive me.” Now, you can give your balloon to (teenage girl’s name). When we say “I’m sorry,” and “please forgive me,” we are doing our best to start over and make things right again.
Explain:
We need to respect everyone for their differences. The Bible says: “Do to others what you would have them do to you.”
Let’s pray…. Lord Jesus, please show us how to be loving and kind. Help us to respect everyone’s differences and to treat others the way we would want to be treated. Amen.
