12/07 - Shattering stereotypes (D8)

After almost a week of getting to know each other, we decided that the kids were finally ready to dive into the camp/CISV themes with a village staple simply called the "stereotype game." For this activity, we divided the group into delegations to share their knowledge and ideas about the other countries and cultures represented in our Village.

Of course, most of their ideas were based on preconceptions gained from before camp, from the media, school, or friends and family. Some of these were were positive (even flattering), some were negative (maybe even hurtful or offensive), but very few of them were entirely accurate. We next had them share what they felt about these ideas, and shed a little more light on the truth (if any) behind these statements.

We then talked to the kids about stereotypes and their effects. It was a funny and at times very emotional exercise, through which we tried to make them understand that today's stereotypes (both positive and negative) are a product of the past, and that tomorrow's assumptions and labels are fully up to them to decide as early as TODAY.

We hope that by discovering the differences that make each person and culture unique, it becomes much easier to see and appreciate the strings that bind us all. Nothing encapsulates what we work for more than the CISV Song, which we all sing to both begin and end each day at camp. We'll get there someday...PEACE BY PIECE. ;-)