Developing a Critical Consciousness

Developing a Critical Consciousness:
The world isn't fair, so what will you do about it?

DCC.1 Internal Peer Pressure:

Students are able to identify different negative messaging that they receive from peers or media that prevent them from doing what they want to or know is right.

Peer Pressure

Peer Pressure is all about worrying and acting on what other people want. Sometimes, these feelings can push us to doing things that are helpful, but it also can cause to do things that are harmful to ourselves or others.

Who do you Want to be?

Negative peer pressure is something that affects everybody - from children to adults. When it comes down to it, the best way to overcome feelings of internal peer pressure is to focus, with confidence, on who you want to be.

Gender and the Media

Often, media portrayals of particular gender roles and stereotypes affect how we see ourselves and how we are "supposed to" be. This lesson begins the process of exploration to help us push back against some of that pressure.

Real Identities: Counter-Messaging

To help us push back against media pressure about who we are "supposed to be," depending on our gender, it is helpful to get "Counter-Stories" out into the world. This lesson helps begin that process.

DCC.2 Coping with Peer Pressure:

Students are able to demonstrate the use of various strategies to minimize the effects of peer pressure on their own decisions and actions.

Coping With Peer Pressure

Negative peer pressure can be really hard to deal with - which is why we so often just give in. This lesson goes over various strategies that can help you better cope with negative peer pressure - and instead end up doing what you really want to do.

Avoiding Peer Pressure

No matter how good we get at saying "no" to negative peer pressure, it is still going to be uncomfortable, and we will still give in, sometimes. Therefore, the best way to make sure we don't give in to negative peer pressure is to avoid it, entirely.

SWAGGERING PAST PEER PRESSURE

The hardest part about dealing with negative peer pressure is having the confidence to say "no" or ignore it. Luckily, you can "trick" your brain into feeling more confident by practicing some specific ways of holding your body that "feel" more confident.

EXPRESSING WITH SWAGGER

This lesson leads to continued practice "tricking" your brain into feeling confident by showing confident body language and ways of speaking. Emphasizes the fact that people do not always respond to what you say - but how you say it.

DCC.3 Going against Peer Pressure:

Students are able to demonstrate the use of various strategies to counter peer pressure and create safe spaces for their peers.

Going Against Peer Pressure

This lesson helps students walk through a number of "Peer Pressure" Case Studies to begin figuring out strategies for going against peer pressure.

Positive Peer Pressure

Peer Pressure also very often leads to good things happening, as well. This lesson helps us figure out how to use "Positive Peer Pressure" to turn around negative peer pressure situations.