Posted 9:15 am Monday, November 07, 2011
Exercise Gives Students Taste Of Society’s Differences
By EMILY GUEVARA
Staff Writer
After watching their peers sit down to a feast of pizza, lasagna, salad and cookies, students in the red group sat down to a lunch of white bread and peanut butter.
“What?” the students said incredulously. “What is this?”
Staff Writer
After watching their peers sit down to a feast of pizza, lasagna, salad and cookies, students in the red group sat down to a lunch of white bread and peanut butter.
“What?” the students said incredulously. “What is this?”
The situation seemed cruel to the group of students watching their peers feast on pizza and cookies, while they had less than desirable snack food, but the exercise had a purpose.
As part of simulated society, or SIMSOC for short, almost 50 juniors at All Saints Episcopal School in Tyler participated in an all-day role-playing activity designed to give them a sense of what it means to live in a community and how different groups have to work together and give and take to make society function.
As part of simulated society, or SIMSOC for short, almost 50 juniors at All Saints Episcopal School in Tyler participated in an all-day role-playing activity designed to give them a sense of what it means to live in a community and how different groups have to work together and give and take to make society function.
“I hope they get a real sense of how complex … a community is and how it takes all parts of a community working together to improve quality of life as a whole,” said Dr. Larry Peppers, coordinator of the simulation and a retired professor from Clemson University.
Students began the exercise about 8 a.m. Wednesday in the Crosswalk Conference Center at Green Acres Baptist Church. They were divided into four groups representing the upper, upper-middle, middle and lower classes.
Each group was assigned to a room and each room had different materials depending upon their income level.
The “wealthiest” students had sofas, tables, chairs, food and drinks in their room. The “poorest” students had bottled water and nothing else.
Each group was assigned to a room and each room had different materials depending upon their income level.
The “wealthiest” students had sofas, tables, chairs, food and drinks in their room. The “poorest” students had bottled water and nothing else.
During each session, groups received different resources based on their status such as currency, travel passes and subsistence tickets. There also were companies, political parties, a union and mass media, among others groups.
And it was up to the students to use the resources to determine whether their group and their society as a whole was going to survive.
After each session, Peppers measured four “national” indicators to determine how well the society was functioning. Those indicators such as Food and Energy Supply, Standard of Living and Social Cohesion, determined how much currency each group received. If any indicator fell below zero, the society collapsed and the simulation would be over.
Kyle Edgemon, head of the All Saints Upper School, said they selected the juniors for the exercise because they will be the school’s leaders next year and they had read nonfiction books about the working poor and watched a documentary related to poverty and education.
All Saints’ director of development Lauren Hammond had participated in SIMSOC before and suggested it would complement the students’ studies well. So the school brought in the program.
Teachers said the students were less than enthused about the exercise when it began, but by mid-morning students were talking about alliances, providing subsistence for other teams, and ensuring the success of the society.
Signs on one of the doors read, “Don’t vote for SOP (a political party) and Humserve (human services)!! Yellow is destroying Simsoc. Don’t help the liars!!”
Makenzie Lohman, 16, who was in the middle class or blue group, said the simulation showed that money can be uplifting and crippling at the same time. She said she also thinks she will have more empathy for people who are in different situations than she is.
Kate Roberts, 16, who was in the lower class or red group, said she realized that to some extent the lower class is trapped in that position. They had little to no power with which to move and they had to hope that people would help them. She said even when people did help them it often came with strings attached.
“I am going to be more understanding of different things that contribute to a person’s position in society,” she said.
Christopher Beall, 17, who was in the upper class or green group, said the conflict in the simulation appeared to be caused by the political parties. It was the parties’ desire to win and bring people into their support that drove conflict, he said.
Christina Fulsom, executive director of People Attempting to Help, a faith-based organization helping those in need, said this type of exercise can be very valuable.
“It does allow you to have a different perspective and a greater awareness of the challenges that other people face,” said Ms. Fulsom, who has worked addressing poverty for more than 10 years.
She said increased awareness usually leads to compassion and compassion leads to some form of action whether that be volunteer work, financial contributions or simply helping a friend or neighbor in need.
Ashley Wilson, an advanced placement English teacher at All Saints, said she hopes the exercise helped students see that not everyone has the same opportunities and to realize’ that they have a responsibility in the world in which they live.
Middle and upper school English teacher Debbie Hitt said she thinks it shows them how they have to give and take in society and how they have to give to the less fortunate.
“I think they’re going to take away from this,” she said.
And it was up to the students to use the resources to determine whether their group and their society as a whole was going to survive.
After each session, Peppers measured four “national” indicators to determine how well the society was functioning. Those indicators such as Food and Energy Supply, Standard of Living and Social Cohesion, determined how much currency each group received. If any indicator fell below zero, the society collapsed and the simulation would be over.
Kyle Edgemon, head of the All Saints Upper School, said they selected the juniors for the exercise because they will be the school’s leaders next year and they had read nonfiction books about the working poor and watched a documentary related to poverty and education.
All Saints’ director of development Lauren Hammond had participated in SIMSOC before and suggested it would complement the students’ studies well. So the school brought in the program.
Teachers said the students were less than enthused about the exercise when it began, but by mid-morning students were talking about alliances, providing subsistence for other teams, and ensuring the success of the society.
Signs on one of the doors read, “Don’t vote for SOP (a political party) and Humserve (human services)!! Yellow is destroying Simsoc. Don’t help the liars!!”
Makenzie Lohman, 16, who was in the middle class or blue group, said the simulation showed that money can be uplifting and crippling at the same time. She said she also thinks she will have more empathy for people who are in different situations than she is.
Kate Roberts, 16, who was in the lower class or red group, said she realized that to some extent the lower class is trapped in that position. They had little to no power with which to move and they had to hope that people would help them. She said even when people did help them it often came with strings attached.
“I am going to be more understanding of different things that contribute to a person’s position in society,” she said.
Christopher Beall, 17, who was in the upper class or green group, said the conflict in the simulation appeared to be caused by the political parties. It was the parties’ desire to win and bring people into their support that drove conflict, he said.
Christina Fulsom, executive director of People Attempting to Help, a faith-based organization helping those in need, said this type of exercise can be very valuable.
“It does allow you to have a different perspective and a greater awareness of the challenges that other people face,” said Ms. Fulsom, who has worked addressing poverty for more than 10 years.
She said increased awareness usually leads to compassion and compassion leads to some form of action whether that be volunteer work, financial contributions or simply helping a friend or neighbor in need.
Ashley Wilson, an advanced placement English teacher at All Saints, said she hopes the exercise helped students see that not everyone has the same opportunities and to realize’ that they have a responsibility in the world in which they live.
Middle and upper school English teacher Debbie Hitt said she thinks it shows them how they have to give and take in society and how they have to give to the less fortunate.
“I think they’re going to take away from this,” she said.
