Here is a simple, powerful exercise to teach
about
privilege and social mobility
Well, I do like this simple, powerful exercise to teach about privilege and social mobility. Here it is:
If you're a teacher, you can give each student a scrap piece of paper and ask them to crumple it up. Then find a recycling bin and move it in front of the students. The game is simple. Tell your students that they represent a country's population and everyone in there has a chance to become wealthy (and move into the upper class). All they must do is to throw their wadded-up paper into that bin, while sitting in their seats.
Probably many of the students in the back of the room will pipe up 'This is unfair!', because they can see the rows of students in front of them have a better chance or a much better chance. But you can't change the rules and just everyone have to take their shots! The result will be that most of the students in the front will make it (BUT NOT ALL) and only a few students in the back of the room will make it. Then you can conclude that "The closer you were to the recycling bin, the better your odds; this is what privilege looks like.
Did you notice how the only ones who complained about fairness were in the back of the classroom? (By contrast, people in the front of the classroom were less likely to be aware of the privilege they were born into. All they can see is X meters/feet between them and their goal!)
And a good photo with a remarkable quote: A State divided into a small number of rich and a large number of poor will always develop a government manipulated by the rich to protect the amenities represented by their property.
Harold Laski (1893-1950)
(http://www.seo-forum-seo-luntan.com/pics/Harold Laski.jpg)