Canadian Red Cross Pink Day 2018 – School Resource Guide 22
These kinds of descriptions or narrow views are
called stereotypes. Stereotypes misrepresent
people because they don’t give us the whole
picture of who that person is, and instead, limit
our understanding of them. Stereotypes also
misrepresent how people feel, and how they
behave. It can be very easy to form stereotypes.
It can happen without us realizing it. But it’s
important to think about why we chose the words
that we did, and where these ideas come from.”
8. Ask the students: “How do we learn stereotypes?”
(Possible responses: the media, our families,
our friends, our cultures, lms and television.)
Emphasize that being stereotyped can be hurtful
and very limiting for people.
9. Have students stand in a circle. Explain that you
are going to attach a sticky label to their back,
which describes a particular imaginary quality,
such as “fun” or “quiet.” As you stick labels on the
students, explain that that they are not allowed
to look at their own label, and no one else should
tell them exactly what it says. Emphasize that the
labels are randomly attached and have nothing to
do with the students’ actual qualities. Try to avoid
giving a label to a student that may be actually
used with that student in real life.
10. Instructions:
a. Imagine that you are at an end-of-year party.
b. Circulate around the room and talk to several
people about your goals for the future. Your
goals can be anything, such as attending
university, becoming a nuclear physicist, a
veterinarian, a police ocer, a singer, or a race
car driver.
c. As you talk to one another, react to one another
according to the label that is on each other’s
back. This activity is not about guessing what
your own label is, but rather, about responding
to others according to what their label says
about them. For example, if a person was
wearing a label that said “hyper” and they
wished to become a surgeon, you might say
“Hmm, really? Don’t you need to be pretty
calm for that? You wouldn’t want to be jittery
and make a mistake that could have bad
consequences.
11. Give them ve minutes to circulate and talk with as
many of their peers as possible.
12. After ve minutes, have everyone come together
and remove their labels. Debrief the activity with
the following questions:
a. REACTIONS (WHAT?)
i. How were you treated by others? What was
that like for you?
ii. Any similar experiences? Dierent
experiences?
iii. How did it feel to label others?
iv. How did this treatment impact what you were
trying to communicate?
b. PROCESSING (SO WHAT?)
i. How does labelling limit what you are able to
see and understand about someone?
ii. How can labelling lead to unfair or hurtful
behaviour?
iii. Is having a positive label always a good
thing?
iv. How is labeling related to bullying?
v. What impact can labeling have in a school
environment?
c. APPLYING (NOW WHAT?)
i. Self-reection activity: Ask the students to
take out a piece of paper. Ask them to think
about a stereotype that may be held about
a group to which they belong. Ask them to
write down what the stereotype is, how they
feel about it and ways that the stereotype
limits or hurts them or others in the group.
d. Once everyone has nished writing, answer
these questions as the group:
e. How can we challenge ourselves to not make
assumptions and avoid stereotyping groups or
people?
f. How can we inform others about a group
we are a part of in order to eliminate harmful
stereotypes and labels?
13. Place a garbage can in the middle of the room
and have all the students throw their label away.
Remind them that they are not their label. For fun,
they can add some dramatic air and toss their
label away while saying “Goodbye, label!” or “You
are not me, label!”
*This activity was adapted from our forthcoming Beyond the
Hurt materials. For more content like this, take our Beyond
the Hurt training or purchase materials from our online store.
